All systems go for 2010 cable as telkom profits plunge

Johannesburg - It's all systems go for the R4,3bn submarine telecommunications cable which will link southern and east Africa with India and Europe ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

Work on the 15 000 kilometre long fibre-optic cable begins this week.

Seacom will be the only cable constructed in time to give the 2010 hosts the international bandwidth capacity to successfully broadcast the World Cup.

The cable will have a design capacity of 1.28-terrabytes per second which is 10 times that of the existing SAT-3 cable in order to support the forecast increase in demand for bandwidth beyond 2010.

It will run from Mtunzini in South Africa and link Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, India and France. It is expected to be fully operational by June 2009.

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