Minister’s SAT3 comments confuse
The SAT3/WASC system has a full capacity of 120 Gb/s, and while some telecoms experts believe that its current capacity may be sold out they are quite certain that it is far from running at capacity.
“SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cable has been designed to operate for a period of up to 25 years. During the life of the cable system, upgrades can be effected which are aimed at increasing the amount of equipped capacity in the system. This is achieved by installing more equipment at cable landing stations,” Telkom said.
While there is no publicly available information as to how much capacity Telkom has on the SAT3 system and exactly what the system’s current full capacity is, it is believed that the system is currently configured at 40 Gbps.
This means that the system still has a ‘spare’ upgrade capacity of 80 Gbps, which in effect means that it is very far from running at ‘full capacity’.
Most telecoms experts that were contacted said that it is highly unlikely that the capacity on the system is fully utilized. Telkom confirmed this in an official response.
“The majority of the parties in the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE consortium have not exhausted their allocated capacity. However the phenomenal growth in broadband has led to increased levels of utilization which have seen the cable system being upgraded to release more capacity for the investors,” said Lulu Letlape, Group Executive for Corporate Communication at Telkom.
Telkom invested $ 85 million in 2002 in SAT3/WASC/SAFE which makes it the major shareholder in the system, an investment that has paid great dividends to the telecoms giant. Telkom is also the system’s network administrator. The full system cost an estimated $ 650-million to develop.
The Minister’s comments are thought to be part of her drive to promote the construction of a new submarine telecommunications cable system on the West coast of Africa.
While detailed information about this intended cable system is not yet available, it is closely linked to the needs of the projected square kilometer array telescope for which South Africa is bidding.
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