Internet in South Africa
Encyclopedia
The Internet
is expanding in South Africa
, which is one of the most technologically-resourced countries on the Africa
n continent. The internet country code top-level domain
(CcLD) .za
was granted to South Africa
by ICANN
in 1990.
Over 60% of internet traffic
generated on the African continent originates from South Africa.
was granted to Rhodes University
in 1988. On 12 November 1991, the first IP connection was made between Rhodes'
computing centre and the home of Randy Bush
in Portland, Oregon
. By November 1991, South African universities were connected through UNINET to the internet. Commercial internet access for businesses and private use began in late 1993. The African National Congress
, the ruling party in the Parliament
, launched its website, anc.org.za, in 1997, making it one of the first African political organizations to establish a presence on the World Wide Web
.
and Egypt
. The number of internet subscribers by percentage, however, is greater in smaller countries such as the Seychelles
, where as much as 37% of the population has internet access, while only 11% of the South African population have internet access.
While the internet user base increased to an estimated 6 million in 2008, the growth curve of paying internet accounts is recognized to be flattening. The total number of wireless broadband subscribers overtook that of fixed line broadband subscribers in South Africa during 2007. The total number of broadband subscribers is estimated at 750,000 by 2008, of which Telkom reported 491,774 ADSL subscribers, with the remainder using wireless broadband networks. Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) launched the iBurst
system in South Africa in late 2004, and had a subscriber base of 45,000 by July 2007, up from 2,500 subscribers by February 2005. Sentech
had about 4,000 MyWireless subscribers in 2007, up from 2,500 in 2006.
Dial-up subscribers are migrating to broadband, and then escalating to higher-bandwidth packages as they become available.
South Africa's total international bandwidth reached the 10 Gbit/s mark during 2008, and its continued increase is being driven primarily by the uptake of broadband and lowering of tariffs.
South Africa's internet user base is projected to reach 9 million users by 2014.
launched consumer services, their broadband using CDMA technology.
In late 2009, Telkom began trialling 8 and 12 Mbit/s ADSL offerings. In August 2010, Telkom officially introduced ADSL at 10 Mbit/s. More than 20,000 4Mbit/s subscribers were upgraded free of charge. As of May 2011, Telkom 512/256 kbit/s users were upgraded to 1024/512 kbit/s.
In South Africa ADSL charges consist of three parts: the ADSL line rental (384/128kbps R152, 512/256kbps R326, 4096/640kbps and 10016/1002 R413), the regular analogue phone line rental (R131, which includes a land line number) and an ISP
account. The price of an ISP account can vary greatly, ranging from R23 (US$3) for 1 GB to R159 ($21) for uncapped 384kbit/s and R496 (US$61) for uncapped 4 Mbit/s. Products with caps of 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB and 30 GB are also available through various ISPs.
. Telkom's own ADSL subscriber base climbed from 50,000 in February 2005 to around 550 000 in July 2009. However, relative to developed markets, ADSL prices in South Africa still remain among the highest in the world which has prompted consumer groups such as Hellkom
and MyADSL to charge that Telkom's ADSL prices are excessive. In terms of speed, a report by, Akamai: The State of the Internet for 2010, showed that South Africa was one of 86 countries which had an average connection speed below 1 Mbps, which is below the global average broadband threshold of 2 Mbps.
offer their namesake, while cellular network company Cell C
offer GPRS and EDGE
and more recently a 21.1Mbit/s service. MTN and Vodacom
also offer 3G
with up to 21.1mbits/s HSDPA+. Telkom offers a 7.2 / 2.4 mbit/s HSDPA / HSUPA service in Gauteng. Most of these offerings are more expensive than ADSL for mid-to-high usage, but can be cost effective if low usage is required. MTN triggered a mini-price war in late February 2007, offering 2GB for each 1GB bought, with Iburst giving a small "data bonus" to their contract customers and Sentech also reducing their prices. Vodacom responded with dramatic price cuts of their own on 1 April 2007 after which Cell C reduced prices on their larger offerings to undercut both MTN and Vodacom.
Internet hotspots are ubiquitous in hotels, coffee shops, and the like. This enables users---often tourists or people on the move---to easily go online without having to enter into a fixed contract with an ISP. Many hotspots offer usage free of charge.
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
in September 2004.
technologues are not universally available, and many customers still connect to the Internet using a dial-up modem
or an ISDN T/A connection.
passed the Electronic Communications Act in 2006 and is dramatically restructuring the sector towards a converged framework, converting vertically integrated licenses previously granted to PSTN, mobile, USAL, PTN and VANS operators into new Electronic Communications Network Services (ECNS), Electronic Communications Services (ECS), or broadcasting licenses. In January 2009, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
(ICASA) granted ECS and ECNS licenses to over 500 VANS operators.
The South African market is in the process of being dramatically restructured, moving away from old-style, vertically-integrated segments under the 1996 Telecommunications Act and 2001 Telecommunications Amendment Act towards horizontal service layers, and the new-style licensing regime is being converted to accommodate this. This process involves the conversion of pre-existing licenses into new Individual or Class Electronic Communications Network Services (ECNS), Electronic Communications Services (ECS), or broadcasting licenses. Licenses are also required for radio frequency spectrum, except for very low power devices.
ICASA granted ECNS licenses during December 2007 to seven new under-serviced area licenses (USAL) operators. The new licensees include PlatiTel, Ilembe Communications, Metsweding Telex, Dinaka Telecoms, Mitjodi Telecoms, and Nyakatho Telecoms.
The South African market is split into two main tiers: top-tier internet access providers; and downstream retail ISPs. ISPs are licensed as value-added network service (VANS) providers, although under the Electronic Communications Act of 2006, these licenses were converted in January 2009 to individual or class electronic communication service (ECS) licenses. All domestic ISPs gain international connectivity through one of the internet access providers: SAIX (Telkom), Neotel, Verizon Business, The Internet Solution, MTN Network Solutions, DataPro and Posix Systems.
Following the deregulation of the VANS industry in South Africa, a number of leading operators have diversified from being a top-tier ISP to becoming a converged communications service provider offering a range of voice and data services, particularly VoIP, through the conversion of VANS licenses into ECS licenses.
With delays to local loop unbundling
(LLU), which would give ISPs
access to exchanges, operators are deploying a range of broadband wireless networks. While the mobile operators are deploying HSDPA, W-CDMA
and EDGE
networks and entering the broadband space, operators are also deploying WiMAX
, iBurst
, and CDMA systems. Telkom, Sentech, Neotel, WBS and the under-serviced areas licensees (USALs) have currently been given commercial WiMAX licenses. Telkom launched full commercial WiMAX services in June 2007, first at 14 sites in Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, and a further 57 sites are planned for 2007/8. Another 10 operators, including M-Web and Vodacom
, were granted temporary test licenses and are awaiting spectrum to be allocated by ICASA. In May 2008, WBS partnered with Vodacom and Intel Corporation to roll out an 802.16e WiMAX network.
South Africa's total international bandwidth reached the 10 Gbit/s mark during 2008, and its continued increase is being driven primarily by the uptake of broadband and lowering of tariffs. Three new submarine cable projects have brought more capacity to South Africa from 2009---the SEACOM cable entered service in June 2009 and supply contracts have been awarded for both the EASSy and WACS cables.
The key upcoming development is that supply contracts have been awarded for three submarine cables that will land or have already landed in South Arica—SEACOM, EASSy, WACS and the recently proposed South Atlantic Express
cable. The data sector is a key area for growth in both the corporate data and residential data markets.
is expected to enter commercial use in the first quarter of 2012. Another two cables, SAex
and ACE
, have been proposed. The SAex cable system is expected to provide the shortest route possible to the Americas, if constructed.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
is expanding in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, which is one of the most technologically-resourced countries on the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n continent. The internet country code top-level domain
Country code top-level domain
A country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory....
(CcLD) .za
.za
.za is the Internet country code top-level domain for South Africa. It is administered by the .None of the official names for South Africa can be abbreviated to ZA, which is an abbreviation of the Dutch Zuid-Afrika...
was granted to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
by ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
in 1990.
Over 60% of internet traffic
Internet traffic
-Historical Internet Traffic Growth:Because of the distributed nature of the Internet, there is no single point of measurement for total Internet traffic...
generated on the African continent originates from South Africa.
History of the internet in South Africa
The first South African IP addressIP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
was granted to Rhodes University
Rhodes University
Rhodes University is a public research university located in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, established in 1904. It is the province’s oldest university, and is one of the four universities in the province...
in 1988. On 12 November 1991, the first IP connection was made between Rhodes'
Rhodes University
Rhodes University is a public research university located in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, established in 1904. It is the province’s oldest university, and is one of the four universities in the province...
computing centre and the home of Randy Bush
Randy Bush
Robert Randall Bush , is a former professional baseball player and currently a front office member of the Chicago Cubs. With the hiring of Theo Epstein, Bush will continue as an assistant General Manager, and will be involved in the hiring process of the field and scouting staff.Bush played for...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. By November 1991, South African universities were connected through UNINET to the internet. Commercial internet access for businesses and private use began in late 1993. The African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
, the ruling party in the Parliament
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....
, launched its website, anc.org.za, in 1997, making it one of the first African political organizations to establish a presence on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
.
Statistics
According to 2007 and 2008 estimates, about 4% of the continental population in Africa have Internet access. Overall online activity is disproportionately distributed in South Africa, with 2/3 of overall online activity in Africa being generated in South Africa which accounts for 5% of the continent's population. Most of the remaining 1/3 of online activity is distributed between MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. The number of internet subscribers by percentage, however, is greater in smaller countries such as the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
, where as much as 37% of the population has internet access, while only 11% of the South African population have internet access.
While the internet user base increased to an estimated 6 million in 2008, the growth curve of paying internet accounts is recognized to be flattening. The total number of wireless broadband subscribers overtook that of fixed line broadband subscribers in South Africa during 2007. The total number of broadband subscribers is estimated at 750,000 by 2008, of which Telkom reported 491,774 ADSL subscribers, with the remainder using wireless broadband networks. Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) launched the iBurst
IBurst
iBurst is a wireless broadband technology originally developed by ArrayComm. It optimizes the use of its bandwidth with the help of smart antennas...
system in South Africa in late 2004, and had a subscriber base of 45,000 by July 2007, up from 2,500 subscribers by February 2005. Sentech
Sentech
Sentech is the signal distributor for the South African broadcasting sector. The organisation began operations in 1992 as the signal distributor of the South African Broadcasting Corporation...
had about 4,000 MyWireless subscribers in 2007, up from 2,500 in 2006.
Dial-up subscribers are migrating to broadband, and then escalating to higher-bandwidth packages as they become available.
South Africa's total international bandwidth reached the 10 Gbit/s mark during 2008, and its continued increase is being driven primarily by the uptake of broadband and lowering of tariffs.
South Africa's internet user base is projected to reach 9 million users by 2014.
Broadband in South Africa
The first ADSL package, a 512/256 kbit/s offering, was introduced in August 2002 by national telecoms monopoly Telkom. Later, in response to growing demand for cheaper ADSL options, two more products were introduced: a mid-range 384/128 kbit/s offering, and an entry-level 192/64 kbit/s one. On 1 September 2005 Telkom released its 1 Mbit/s offering. In late 2006, Telkom commenced with trials for 4 Mbit/s ADSL. They also began phasing out their 192 kbit/s offering, upgrading subscribers to 384 kbit/s at no extra charge. In May 2008, NeotelNeotel
Neotel Ltd., previously SNO Telecommunications, is the second national operator for fixed line telecommunication services in South Africa. It was unveiled on August 31, 2006 in Kyalami in northern Johannesburg...
launched consumer services, their broadband using CDMA technology.
In late 2009, Telkom began trialling 8 and 12 Mbit/s ADSL offerings. In August 2010, Telkom officially introduced ADSL at 10 Mbit/s. More than 20,000 4Mbit/s subscribers were upgraded free of charge. As of May 2011, Telkom 512/256 kbit/s users were upgraded to 1024/512 kbit/s.
In South Africa ADSL charges consist of three parts: the ADSL line rental (384/128kbps R152, 512/256kbps R326, 4096/640kbps and 10016/1002 R413), the regular analogue phone line rental (R131, which includes a land line number) and an ISP
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
account. The price of an ISP account can vary greatly, ranging from R23 (US$3) for 1 GB to R159 ($21) for uncapped 384kbit/s and R496 (US$61) for uncapped 4 Mbit/s. Products with caps of 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB and 30 GB are also available through various ISPs.
Pricing
ADSL prices in South Africa have been decreasing steadily since the service was introduced, mainly as result of competition from mobile network operators, but also due to the landing of the SEACOM cable. Previously the sole undersea cable to land in South Africa was the Telkom-operated SAT-3SAT-3/WASC (cable system)
SAT-3/WASC or South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable is a submarine communications cable linking Portugal and Spain to South Africa, with connections to several West African countries along the route. It forms part of the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cable system, where the SAFE cable links South Africa...
. Telkom's own ADSL subscriber base climbed from 50,000 in February 2005 to around 550 000 in July 2009. However, relative to developed markets, ADSL prices in South Africa still remain among the highest in the world which has prompted consumer groups such as Hellkom
Hellkom
Hellkom is an Internet parody site about Telkom, South Africa's telecommunications monopoly. It was started in June 2004 as a protest to the telecoms parastatal's excessive pricing for its services by Gregg Stirton. In April 2009, Stirton started a discussion forum named BBLounge to complement the...
and MyADSL to charge that Telkom's ADSL prices are excessive. In terms of speed, a report by, Akamai: The State of the Internet for 2010, showed that South Africa was one of 86 countries which had an average connection speed below 1 Mbps, which is below the global average broadband threshold of 2 Mbps.
Wireless in South Africa
A number of companies offer broadband alternatives. IburstIBurst
iBurst is a wireless broadband technology originally developed by ArrayComm. It optimizes the use of its bandwidth with the help of smart antennas...
offer their namesake, while cellular network company Cell C
Cell C
Cell C is South Africa’s third cell network after Vodacom and MTN, and the first cellular provider operating a dual band GSM 900/1800 MHz network, with over 7,4-million subscribers according to recent reports in Business Day and myadsl...
offer GPRS and EDGE
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM...
and more recently a 21.1Mbit/s service. MTN and Vodacom
Vodacom
Vodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, and was the 1st cellular network in South Africa. It provides GSM service to more than 35 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Revenue for the year ended 31 March 2008...
also offer 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
with up to 21.1mbits/s HSDPA+. Telkom offers a 7.2 / 2.4 mbit/s HSDPA / HSUPA service in Gauteng. Most of these offerings are more expensive than ADSL for mid-to-high usage, but can be cost effective if low usage is required. MTN triggered a mini-price war in late February 2007, offering 2GB for each 1GB bought, with Iburst giving a small "data bonus" to their contract customers and Sentech also reducing their prices. Vodacom responded with dramatic price cuts of their own on 1 April 2007 after which Cell C reduced prices on their larger offerings to undercut both MTN and Vodacom.
Internet hotspots are ubiquitous in hotels, coffee shops, and the like. This enables users---often tourists or people on the move---to easily go online without having to enter into a fixed contract with an ISP. Many hotspots offer usage free of charge.
VOIP
Until February 1, 2005, the usage of VOIP outside of company networks was illegal under South African communications law, ostensibly to protect jobs. The deregulation of VOIP was announced by Minister of Communications (South Africa)Minister of Communications (South Africa)
The Minister of Communications is a Minister in the Government of South Africa, who is responsible for overseeing the Department of Communications.-External links:**...
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was a South African politician. She was the country's Minister of Communications from 1999 until her death....
in September 2004.
Dial up Internet
BroadbandBroadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
technologues are not universally available, and many customers still connect to the Internet using a dial-up modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
or an ISDN T/A connection.
Legislation and licensing
The South African governmentGovernment of South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a constitutional democracy with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a nearly unique system that combines aspects of parliamentary and presidential systems. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa...
passed the Electronic Communications Act in 2006 and is dramatically restructuring the sector towards a converged framework, converting vertically integrated licenses previously granted to PSTN, mobile, USAL, PTN and VANS operators into new Electronic Communications Network Services (ECNS), Electronic Communications Services (ECS), or broadcasting licenses. In January 2009, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the public interest....
(ICASA) granted ECS and ECNS licenses to over 500 VANS operators.
The South African market is in the process of being dramatically restructured, moving away from old-style, vertically-integrated segments under the 1996 Telecommunications Act and 2001 Telecommunications Amendment Act towards horizontal service layers, and the new-style licensing regime is being converted to accommodate this. This process involves the conversion of pre-existing licenses into new Individual or Class Electronic Communications Network Services (ECNS), Electronic Communications Services (ECS), or broadcasting licenses. Licenses are also required for radio frequency spectrum, except for very low power devices.
ICASA granted ECNS licenses during December 2007 to seven new under-serviced area licenses (USAL) operators. The new licensees include PlatiTel, Ilembe Communications, Metsweding Telex, Dinaka Telecoms, Mitjodi Telecoms, and Nyakatho Telecoms.
The South African market is split into two main tiers: top-tier internet access providers; and downstream retail ISPs. ISPs are licensed as value-added network service (VANS) providers, although under the Electronic Communications Act of 2006, these licenses were converted in January 2009 to individual or class electronic communication service (ECS) licenses. All domestic ISPs gain international connectivity through one of the internet access providers: SAIX (Telkom), Neotel, Verizon Business, The Internet Solution, MTN Network Solutions, DataPro and Posix Systems.
Following the deregulation of the VANS industry in South Africa, a number of leading operators have diversified from being a top-tier ISP to becoming a converged communications service provider offering a range of voice and data services, particularly VoIP, through the conversion of VANS licenses into ECS licenses.
With delays to local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
(LLU), which would give ISPs
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
access to exchanges, operators are deploying a range of broadband wireless networks. While the mobile operators are deploying HSDPA, W-CDMA
W-CDMA
W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...
and EDGE
Edge
- Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :...
networks and entering the broadband space, operators are also deploying WiMAX
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
, iBurst
IBurst
iBurst is a wireless broadband technology originally developed by ArrayComm. It optimizes the use of its bandwidth with the help of smart antennas...
, and CDMA systems. Telkom, Sentech, Neotel, WBS and the under-serviced areas licensees (USALs) have currently been given commercial WiMAX licenses. Telkom launched full commercial WiMAX services in June 2007, first at 14 sites in Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, and a further 57 sites are planned for 2007/8. Another 10 operators, including M-Web and Vodacom
Vodacom
Vodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, and was the 1st cellular network in South Africa. It provides GSM service to more than 35 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Revenue for the year ended 31 March 2008...
, were granted temporary test licenses and are awaiting spectrum to be allocated by ICASA. In May 2008, WBS partnered with Vodacom and Intel Corporation to roll out an 802.16e WiMAX network.
South Africa's total international bandwidth reached the 10 Gbit/s mark during 2008, and its continued increase is being driven primarily by the uptake of broadband and lowering of tariffs. Three new submarine cable projects have brought more capacity to South Africa from 2009---the SEACOM cable entered service in June 2009 and supply contracts have been awarded for both the EASSy and WACS cables.
The key upcoming development is that supply contracts have been awarded for three submarine cables that will land or have already landed in South Arica—SEACOM, EASSy, WACS and the recently proposed South Atlantic Express
SAex
SAex is a proposed submarine communications cable linking South Africa and Angola to Brazil with onward connectivity to the United States that will connect to the existing GlobeNet cable system. The project was announced in 2011 following...
cable. The data sector is a key area for growth in both the corporate data and residential data markets.
Active and proposed cable systems
As of 2011, South Africa is served by four submarine communication cables. The WACS cable systemWACS (cable system)
WACS is an under-construction submarine communications cable linking South Africa with the United Kingdom along the west coast of Africa which is being constructed by Alcatel-Lucent. The cable is 14,000 km in length, linking from Yzerfontein in the Western Cape of South Africa to London in...
is expected to enter commercial use in the first quarter of 2012. Another two cables, SAex
SAex
SAex is a proposed submarine communications cable linking South Africa and Angola to Brazil with onward connectivity to the United States that will connect to the existing GlobeNet cable system. The project was announced in 2011 following...
and ACE
ACE (cable system)
The ACE submarine communications cable is a cable system undergoing construction along the west coast of Africa between France and South Africa, planned by the ACE consortium which was initiated on June 5, 2010....
, have been proposed. The SAex cable system is expected to provide the shortest route possible to the Americas, if constructed.
Active cable systems
- SAT-2: SAT-2 was the first submarine cable to be constructed to enable commercial and private use of the internet. It replaced the original SAT-1 cable and has been operational since 1993.
- SAT-3/WASC/SAFE: The SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cable system became operational in 2001, providing the first links to Europe for West African internet users and for South African users, taking up service from SAT-2 which was reaching maximum capacity. The SAFE cable systemSAFE (cable system)The South Africa Far East cable is an optical fiber submarine communications cable linking Melkbosstrand, South Africa to Penang, Malaysia.It was commissioned in 2002 and built by Tyco Submarine Systems of the USA with an initial capacity of 10 Gigabits per second, which is upgradeable to 130...
, which was commissioned in 2002, links South Africa to the Asian continent, with landing points at India and Malaysia. - SEACOM: The SEACOM submarine cable landing at MombasaMombasaMombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, entered commercial service in June 2009. The cable runs from South Africa to Egypt via Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, connecting eastwards through to India and westwards through the Mediterranean. - East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy): The EASSy cable system runs from South Africa (Mtunzini) to Egypt via Mombasa (Kenya) and other East African countries. The cable runs as far north as Djibouti and Port SudanPort SudanPort Sudan is the capital of Red Sea State, Sudan; it has 489,725 residents . Located on the Red Sea, it is the Republic of Sudan's main port city.-History:...
, with onward connectivity to Europe provided by the Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable. In March 2007, a 23-member consortium behind EASSy signed a supply contract with Alcatel-LucentAlcatel-LucentAlcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services...
which led to the construction of the cable.
Cable systems not yet operational or proposed
- West African Cable System (WACS): The West African Cable SystemWACS (cable system)WACS is an under-construction submarine communications cable linking South Africa with the United Kingdom along the west coast of Africa which is being constructed by Alcatel-Lucent. The cable is 14,000 km in length, linking from Yzerfontein in the Western Cape of South Africa to London in...
is a 14,000 kilometre cable that provides connectivity between South Africa, Portugal and the United Kingdom via 11 other African countries. In April 2009, the WACS consortium signed a construction and maintenance agreement, and awarded a supply contract to Alcatel-Lucent for the cable. With a minimum design capacity of 3.84 Terabit/s, WACS connects South Africa to the United Kingdom with landing points in 12 countries: Namibia, Angola, DRC, Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, and Portugal. The WACS consortium comprises 11 parties: Angola Telecom, Broadband Infraco (see below), Cable & Wireless, MTN, Portugal Telecom, Sotelco, Tata Communications, Telecom Namibia, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom and Vodacom. The cable is expected to be ready for service during 2011. - Main One:The Main One cable system is being designed in two phases. The first phase linked Ghana and Nigeria to Portugal and became operation in July 2010.: Phase two of the project will provide additional internet capacity to South Africa and other countries on the west African coast.
- ACE (Africa Coast to Europe): The ACE cable systemACE (cable system)The ACE submarine communications cable is a cable system undergoing construction along the west coast of Africa between France and South Africa, planned by the ACE consortium which was initiated on June 5, 2010....
is a proposed submarine cable which would be 17,000 kilometres in length and which would be capable of supporting an overall potential capacity of 5.12Tb/s using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology. It will connect 23 countries either directly for coastal countries or indirectly through terrestrial links for landlocked countries, like MaliMaliMali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
and NigerNigerNiger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
. - SAex (South Atlantic Express): The SAexSAexSAex is a proposed submarine communications cable linking South Africa and Angola to Brazil with onward connectivity to the United States that will connect to the existing GlobeNet cable system. The project was announced in 2011 following...
cable is another proposed submarine communications cableSubmarine communications cableA submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....
which would link South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
to BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
with onward connectivity to the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that will connect to the existing GlobeNet cable system. The project was announced in 2011 following a BRICSBRICSBRICS is an international political organisation of leading emerging economies, arising out of the inclusion of South Africa into the BRIC group in 2010. As of 2011, its five members are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa...
summit and a memorandum of understanding signed by its members. The project, if realized, will enable the shortest route possible to the AmericasAmericasThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
reducing latencyLatencyLatency or latent may refer to:*Latency period , the time between exposure to a pathogen, chemical or radiation, and when symptoms first become apparent...
and bandwidth costs. Currently, America bound South Africa internet trafficInternet traffic-Historical Internet Traffic Growth:Because of the distributed nature of the Internet, there is no single point of measurement for total Internet traffic...
routes through Europe, incurring the said latency and bandwidth costs. If constructed, the cable will have the largest design capacity (12.8 Tb/s) of any other cable servicing the African continent.
See also
- Internet in AfricaInternet in AfricaInternet penetration in Africa is limited compared to the rest of the world. Measurable parameters such as the number of ISP subscriptions, overall number of hosts, IXP-traffic, and overall available bandwidth all indicate that Africa is way behind the "digital divide"...
- National broadband plans from around the worldNational broadband plans from around the worldBroadband is a term normally considered to be synonymous with a high-speed connection to the internet. The term itself is technology neutral; broadband can be delived by a range of technologies including DSL, LTE or next generation access. This page presents an overview of official Government...
- List of international submarine communications cables