The South Africa Far East cable is an optical fiber

Optical fiber

An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...

 submarine communications cable

Submarine communications cable

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....

 linking Melkbosstrand

Melkbosstrand

Melkbosstrand is a coastal village and beach with just over 17000 inhabitants, located on the South West Coast of South Africa, 35 km north of Cape Town....

, 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...

 to Penang

Penang

Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

, 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 Gigabits per second. It has four fiber strands, using Erbium-doped fiber amplifier repeaters and wavelength division multiplexing.

It has a total length of 13104 kilometres (8,142.5 mi) and is one of a pair of cables—SAT-3/WASC

SAT-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...

 being the other—that provides high-speed digital links between Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, West

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

 and Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

 and the Far East

Far East

The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

. Together with SAT-3/WASC, it also provides redundancy

Redundancy (engineering)

In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe....

 for other cables travelling through the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

.

It has landing points

Cable landing point

A cable landing point is the location where a submarine or other underwater cable makes landfall. The term is most often used for the landfall points of submarine telecommunications cables and submarine power cables. The landing will either be direct or via a branch from a main cable using a...

 at:

1. Melkbosstrand
   Melkbosstrand
   Melkbosstrand is a coastal village and beach with just over 17000 inhabitants, located on the South West Coast of South Africa, 35 km north of Cape Town....
   
   , near Cape Town
   Cape Town
   Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
   
   , Western Cape
   Western Cape
   The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
   
   , 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...
   
    (where it meets the SAT-2
   SAT-2 (cable system)
   SAT-2 is a submarine communications cable linking Melkbosstrand, South Africa, to El Medano, Tenerife Island, Spain and Funchal, Madeira islands, Portugal...
   
    and SAT-3
   SAT-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...
   
    cable systems)
2. Mtunzini
   Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal
   Mtunzini is a small coastal town that is situated almost exactly halfway along KwaZulu-Natal's coastline in South Africa approximately 140 km north of Durban...
   
   , KwaZulu-Natal
   KwaZulu-Natal
   KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
   
   , South Africa (branch)
3. Saint Paul
   Saint-Paul, Réunion
   Saint-Paul is the second-largest commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located on the extreme west side of the island of Réunion.Until 1999, near Saint Paul there was the 428 metres tall mast OMEGA Chabrier transmitter.- Transport :...
   
   , Réunion
   Réunion
   Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
   
   
4. Baie du Jacotet, Savanne
   Savanne
   Savanne is a district in Mauritius. The capital is Souillac. As of the 2000 census, the district has a population of 66,356 and covers an area of 243 km².The south of Mauritius is one of the most scenic and unspoilt parts of the island...
   
   , Mauritius
   Mauritius
   Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
   
   
5. Kochi, India
   India
   India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
   
    (branch) (where it meets the SEA-ME-WE 3
   SEA-ME-WE 3 (cable system)
   SEA-ME-WE 3 or South-East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 3 is an optical submarine telecommunications cable linking those regions and is the longest in the world, completed in late 2000. It is operated by India's Tata Communications and 92 other investors from the telecom industry...
   
    cable system)
6. Penang
   Penang
   Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
   
   , Malaysia (where it meets the FLAG
   Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe
   Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe is a 28,000-kilometer-long submarine communications cable containing optical fiber that connects the United Kingdom, Japan, and many places in between. The cable is operated by India's Flag Telecom, a fully owned subsidiary of Reliance Communications. The system...
   
    and SEA-ME-WE 3
   SEA-ME-WE 3 (cable system)
   SEA-ME-WE 3 or South-East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 3 is an optical submarine telecommunications cable linking those regions and is the longest in the world, completed in late 2000. It is operated by India's Tata Communications and 92 other investors from the telecom industry...
   
   cable systems)