mitrobeThe biggest social media platform, Facebook is having a laudable project for 16 counties in African. They will be collaborating with international telecoms companies to create a 23,000 (37,000 mile) undersea cable to deliver quicker internet to some African countries.
The length of the cable is allegedly almost the circumference of the earth which will automatically make it one of the longest in the world.
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This will be in fulfillment of a long term goal by Facebook to take its platform to Africa’s nations. This project is expected to be completed for use by 2024 and it will sure supply thrice the capacity of the present undersea cables that are serving Africa.
It is expected that when this project is completed, it will provide the needed internet capacity and reliability for Africans, it will augment for the limited capacity supply in the Middle East and even raise more growth of 4G and 5G broadband access for millions of people across Africa.
Facebook in a blog said, “Africa lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to internet access, having about 4 people in 10 people in the continent gaining access to the web, compared to a universal average of 6 in every 10” he opined that Africa represents vast opportunities for technology companies and organizations with its huge population which stands at about 1.3 billion. The cost of this project which seems will rightly connect the Middle East and Europe to Africa is yet to be disclosed but is alleged to cost an average of $1bn as stated by Bloomberg.
This project is reported to be built by Nkia Oyj’s Alcatel Submarine Networks and it will run along the following bottom: the Mediterranean Sea, the red sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. This is so because sub-sea cables are said to carry a large majority of the world’s inter-continental data, so they can deal with a huge amount of data and provide quicker transmission at a pocket-friendly cost, unlike other methods.
The cables which are said to be fibre –optic cables will have twice the capacity of older cables, there would be hidden deeper than previous ones which will offer much more protection against forces or damages within or without like ship anchors.
Facebook will be partnering with orange SA, Johannesburg-based MTN group, Vodafone, and Telecom Egypt to make a success of this huge project. Though. Vodafone tends to be at the forefront than others.
Nick Gliddon, the director of Vodafone Carrier services said when the project is completed it will pave way for developing digital businesses in Africa, so there lies the need to ensure that there is an adequate supply of internet capacity so that people will not only have access to the internet but online businesses in large scale can be established as well as having a modern digital society.
The project is ongoing and it is intended to boost the educational and health sector, it isn’t only about digital businesses.
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