East Africa: New Submarine Network to Reduce Internet Access Rates
The cost of using the Internet in the Eastern African region is set to significantly drop with the construction of a new submarine cable network. Seacom, a Mauritius-based company, is constructing the submarine cable network that will link East Africa, South Africa, Europe and Asia.
The technology would reduce the cost of voice and data transmission by up to 80 per cent. Today, the monthly cost of satellite links to internet service providers stands at about $5,000 to $15,000 per two megabits per second. But the target is to reduce the monthly rate to about $45 to $200 per two megabits.
“This will yield reduction to end users enabling them to access internet and other ICT services at rates comparable to those in Europe and America,” Uganda’s ICT minister Mr. Ham Mulira said.
Source: The New Vision
