Main One subsea, fiber-optic cable links West Africa to Europe

July 7, 2010
JULY 6, 2010 - Main One has announced that its 1,920-Gbps, 7,000-kilometer-long, submarine fiber-optic cable system linking West Africa to Europe has been completed and commissioned.

JULY 6, 2010 - Main One has announced that its 1,920-Gbps, 7,000-kilometer-long, submarine fiber-optic cable system linking West Africa to Europe has been completed and commissioned.

With landing stations in Nigeria and Ghana and branching units in Morocco, Canary Islands, Senegal, and Ivory Coast, the cable will deliver broadband capacity to West Africa, more than 10 times what is currently available in the region, according to a spokesperson.

The cable system now in operation is expected to impact businesses, governments, and individuals positively by providing higher bandwidth and exceptional speeds at a lower cost. The ramifications of Main One’s cable will be felt in all sectors: from education, through to health and entertainment, helping to driving economic growth and creating job opportunities all over Africa.

“Today is a historic day for West Africa. The arrival of the Main One cable proves that enormous good can be done by Africans for Africans. We are pleased to realize the fruit of our dedication and commitment over the past 30 months. More importantly, we are happy to be a channel for driving growth in Africa and changing the status quo for the average African by providing reliable internet connectivity that is easily accessible and affordable for all,” says Fola Adeola, chairman, Main One Cable Company.

“We commend TE SubCom, our turnkey system supplier for delivering a high-quality solution to us in record time,” adds Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One. “TE SubCom demonstrated a willingness to work with us from the very inception of the project, despite the challenges we faced pioneering a project of this magnitude in this part of the world. We are delighted that as a result of their commitment and effort, we have a world class network to showcase and that will be providing excellent service for at least the next 25 years.”

“The on-schedule completion of Main One cable is a vital technological advancement and achievement for West Africa,” says David Coughlan, president of TE SubCom. “The fiber system we have deployed for Main One will provide the much needed bandwidth and capacity to facilitate communication between West Africa and the rest of the world. Although the design capacity for the system was 1.92 TB/s, we’ve been able to demonstrate that with TE SubCom’s 40G SLTE equipment deployed, the as-installed system is actually capable of 4.96 TB/s of capacity.”

Sponsored Recommendations

Transforming the metro network and the evolution of the "Digital Service Provider"

March 4, 2025
Join experts at EXFO and Ekinops in this webinar that will review the evolving metro-centric requirements and the technologies emerging to meet them.

AI and Network Convergence: Transforming Global Connectivity

March 7, 2025
In today’s hyperconnected world, rolling out and managing profitable, high-performance networks for access and transport will require innovative architectural approaches. The ...

Unveiling the Synergy Between AI and Optical Networking

March 12, 2025
Join us for an engaging discussion with industry experts on the intersection of AI and optics. Moderated by Sean Buckley, editor-in-chief of Lightwave+BTR, this panel will explore...

On Topic: Fiber - The Rural Equation

Oct. 29, 2024
RURAL BROADBAND:AN OPPORTUNITY AND A CHALLENGE The rural broadband market has always been a challenge for service providers. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighted ...