Madagascar connected to EASSy

2010-03-20 22:06

Antananarivo - Madagascar has been connected to EASSy, a high bandwidth fibre optic cable that connects countries on Africa's eastern coast to the rest of the world, Telecom Malagasy (Telma) said Saturday.

The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System is supposed to enable the transfer of data at speeds 40 times faster than a dial-up connection.

Telma said it has already put in place a national backbone that will enable it to link users to the cable.

Once users have access to the cable, the island should be able to develop outsourcing activities such as call centres, Telma said.

Twenty-seven operators from 22 countries, both on Africa's eastern coast and their landlocked neighbours, have joined together in the EASSy project worth some $260m overall.

Madagascar was already connected last year by telecoms operator Orange to the submarine Lion cable, which linked it to two other Indian Ocean islands, Reunion and Mauritius.

- AFP