Liquid Intelligent Technologies says it has acquired a fibre pair on the Equiano subsea cable. In a press statement, the pan-African technology group and a business unit of Cassava Technologies noted that by acquiring this fibre pair, Liquid will be able to transport traffic at speeds of up to 12 terabits per second, giving much-needed international connectivity to Western and Southern Africa via the Equiano subsea cable.
Liquid over the Equiano cable system will meet the growing demand for Internet capacity supporting cloud services in both coastal and inland countries on the continent, as older subsea cables are nearing the end of their lives.
It is anticipated that Equiano will be fully operational by the end of 2022, allowing businesses in Western Africa, as well as Europe, to fulfil their ever-increasing bandwidth requirements.
Because of its fibre backbone and satellite services, Liquid is able to provide reliable telecommunications and cloud services to more than 1.3 billion people across tens of thousands of towns and cities in Africa.
“In the last few years, we have witnessed a steady increase in the adoption of digital technologies. This wouldn’t have been possible without our investments in high-speed connectivity in coastal as well as landlocked African countries. The continent needs companies like Liquid who not only land terabit/s of capacity with subsea cables but also distribute that capacity inland, enabling these countries to see the same benefits as those where the cable lands. ” Liquid Dataport CEO David Eurin said.
Landing points for the Equiano undersea cable include Sesimbra in Portugal, Lomé in Togo, Lagos in Nigeria, Swakopmund in Namibia, Rupert’s Bay in Saint Helena, and Melkbosstrand in South Africa.
Access to key commercial centres and huge data centres across the continent will be made possible as a result of the expansion of Liquid’s One Africa Digital Network. As part of Liquid’s East-West network across Africa, Equiano landing sites will be connected to Liquid’s East-West network.
Liquid’s investment in Equiano will help provide seamless connectivity for its clients across Africa, complementing its own existing national and metro fibre networks and offering increased resilience thanks to its connection to other subsea and satellite networks. Looking further, the deployment will bring the benefit of access to large capacities and low costs to cross-connect from subsea to terrestrial backhaul, which should lead to lower prices for both consumers and businesses.
“This initiative,” the company notes, “aligns acutely with Liquid’s twin goals of providing the best services, connectivity, and prices to its clients while making online access to as many people on the African continent as possible.”
