Recent cable landing station news from eastern India and West Africa underlines the continuing growth of the submarine cable business across both regions.
The state of Odisha in eastern India is aiming to establish itself as a global digital hub; to this end the state government's Electronics and IT department has initiated plans to set up a cable landing station (CLS) in a coastal city called Puri.
A detailed project report is apparently being jointly prepared by ICT neutral telecom infrastructure provider RailTel and consultancy Deloitte.
The facility will provide direct international fibre connectivity, reducing latency, improving internet speed, and, it is hoped, positioning Odisha as a prime destination for hyperscalers, global capability centres and enterprises.
According to India’s Economic Times news service, the state’s Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja has emphasised the need for consultations with hyperscalers and key ecosystem players to ensure a comprehensive and future-ready implementation. He has also called for early submission of the detailed project report for approval with a focus on completion of the project within three years.
Puri was identified as the ideal location for the cable landing station due to its strategic geographic position, suitable coastline, scalability potential and robust infrastructure.
Meanwhile, in West Africa, ACE Gabon, part of the ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) subsea cable consortium, and Medusa Africa have signed a construction and maintenance agreement to land the Medusa submarine cable in Port-Gentil, Gabon.
According to the Data Centre Dynamics website the original plan was for The Medusa submarine cable, which is powered by AFR-IX Telecom – an infrastructure and telecom operator in Africa – to have 17 landing points across Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia. Now, however, as well as connecting all Mediterranean countries it will extend into West Africa.
ACE Gabon will act as the landing party in Gabon, providing both domestic resources and investment as well as continuous operational and maintenance support in Gabon and its territorial waters for the lifetime of the cable, expected to be 25 years.
ACE Gabon will also own rights along the trunk of the Medusa system, enabling it to provide regional and international broadband services to the country's enterprises and people.
