The Equiano Submarine Cable has been activated at Telecom Namibia’s cable station, which was also inaugurated on Wednesday at Swakopmund.
With a projected capacity of 4 Terabytes per second, the Equiano cable significantly strengthens Namibia’s international connectivity infrastructure.
This, combined with the existing West Africa Cable System (WACS), positions Namibia as a regional ICT hub, well-equipped to meet the data[1] intensive demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Works and Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister John Mutorwa, said the arrival of the Equiano cable, with the existing WACS, serves as a powerful testament to Namibia’s commitment to regional connectivity.
‘These strategic investments, some co-funded with valued partners like the Government of Botswana and Bofinet in the case of WACS, not only strengthens bilateral relations, but also ensures reliable international bandwidth for Namibia and its neighbours as well,’ the minister noted.
Mutorwa, who inaugurated the pro
ject on behalf of President Nangolo Mbumba, added that this enhanced connectivity will revolutionise how Namibia conducts business, improve the quality of life of its citizens and unlock a new wave of economic opportunities across different sectors including agriculture, health, and logistics.
Finance and Public Enterprises Deputy Minister Maureen Hinda expressed the tremendous opportunities to further explore synergies in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and beyond, for select nations.
‘By working together, you can unlock a future of immense benefit for our citizens. Imagine a SADC leveraging combined resources to develop a higher standard of ICT services across the region,’ Hinda said.
The Equiano cable represents a co-landing project valued at N.dollars 90 million, undertaken with Paratus, exemplifying Telecom Namibia’s commitment to infrastructure sharing and the ideals of the Harambee Prosperity Plan.
Meanwhile, Telecom Namibia Chief Executive Officer Stanley Shanapinda expla
ined that the benefits of this connection will be extended to Telecom’s end users across all regions through projects and network modernisation of its last mile network, both mobile and fibre, and to other carriers in the country.
‘These efforts intend to improve customer satisfaction by maintaining and improving the quality of service to our customers. That connection will ultimately enhance the performance of the telecom Namibia network and provide diverse, faster, more reliable connectivity,’ Shanapinda added.
Source: The Namibia News Agency