Alcatel announces inauguration of 14,000-km optical DWDM submarine network linking Portugal and South Africa

Alcatel has announced the inauguration of the SAT-3/WASC DWDM submarine cable system. Entirely managed from end-to-end by Alcatel, the SAT-3/WASC project links Portugal to South Africa, ensuring a high-rate connection between Europe and several countries along the western coast of Africa.

"We are delighted to inaugurate SAT-3/WASC network as the symbol of the success of this project, involving several countries and allowing Africa to benefit from a high-capacity link well adapted to new telecommunications applications, such as the Internet," contends Kobus Stoeder, chairman of SAT-3/WASC consortium. "Furthermore, thanks to its interconnections with the world-wide web and as its on-going upgrade proves it, this network shows that it is increasingly important to construct optical networks connecting the South to the North."

The network consists of a core backbone with various diversions radiating out to other countries. The system is designed to support four wavelengths at 2.5 Gbits/sec, connecting all the concerned countries in the western coast of Africa and five wavelengths at 10 Gbit/s between Portugal and South Africa. The first connection responds to regional telecom needs for both voice and data while the second one implements a high-speed link between Europe and Africa. It highlights the advantages of submarine networks regarding flexibility, the rapid turnaround time of the implementation of the project, and the ability to provide a large, upgradable bandwidth. Furthermore, it can play the role of restoration for other undersea systems around Africa, because of the various interconnections between them.

Alcatel managed the project end-to-end, offering a full turnkey solution to its customers, from network design to installation. This includes the manufacturing of all the equipment such as cable, repeaters, branching units, and terminal equipment for the terrestrial stations.

In addition, Alcatel supplied a fully integrated, user-friendly network management platform, providing end-to-end supervision and provisioning. This platform manages the whole SAT-3/WASC network, as well as a system linking South Africa and India for which Alcatel delivered the SDH infrastructure. Alcatel is also currently ensuring the first upgrade of the system with the necessary terrestrial equipment, including SDH optical multi-service nodes systems (OMSN).

For more information about Alcatel (Paris), visit the company's Web site at www.alcatel.com.