Seychelles set for its first underwater fiber-optic cable link

(eTN) – Rich in tourism, culture and marine resources, the Island state of Seychelles will be connected to the rest of the world through submarine optic fiber cable to be laid from Tanzania’s capita

(eTN) – Rich in tourism, culture and marine resources, the Island state of Seychelles will be connected to the rest of the world through submarine optic fiber cable to be laid from Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam after the arrival of the cable ship this Friday.

Seychelles consulate in Dar es Salaam confirmed the arrival of the Alcatel Submarine Ship (ASN) on May 4th will be the start of the submarine optic fiber system project that will link the famous tourist island state of Seychelles to the world through Tanzania.

Reports from the Seychelles consulate in Tanzania said the Seychelles East Africa System (SEAS) submarine optic fiber cable will be linked to the existing systems of SEACOM and EASSy already on the coast of the African continent.

SEAS has been built by Seychelles Cable Systems Limited through funding from the Seychelles government, Cable and Wireless (Seychelles) and the mobile phone company, Airtel.

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Seychelles in Tanzania Ms Maryvonne Pool said the laying of SEAS submarine optic fiber cable will start from Tanzania and terminate in Seychelles. Seychelles remained the only country on the African coast not linked to submarine cable system.

“SEAS is the very first optic fiber submarine cable link for Seychelles and is very much a historic and development milestone for this Island state,” she said.

Alcatel Submarine Networks has been contracted to build and lay the SEAS cable with its ship named Ile – de- Sein, which is expected to arrive in Dar es Salaam today.

ZANTEL, a mobile phone provider company, is the host of SEAS, and has been well prepared to receive the cable ship upon its arrival, said Mr. Ali Bin Jarsh, the ZANTEL chief executive officer.

The Seychelles Cable Systems (SCS) chairman of the board of directors Mr. Benjamin Choppy said after looking at possible landing points on the East African mainland coast, the SCS board selected Dar es Salaam and ZANTEL as the overall best location in terms of commercial and other conditions.

“We were taking into consideration to make our decision vis-à-vis the landing point”, said Mr. Choppy who is also the Seychelles Permanent Secretary responsible for Information Communication Technology.

SEAS project is a good example of regional integration and private sector participation, as it involves business and government entities from East African countries, the use of regionally deployed telecom infrastructure and EASSy which is a regional African project.

The project will be vital for cementing Tanzania and Seychelles relations through various areas of business, social and economic fields, mostly travel and tourism.

Both Tanzania and Seychelles are members of the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern African (RETOSA) and are in need of quick and effective system that will speed up connection among tourists and other travelers between these friendly nations, while attracting more business stakeholders from each country through high-tech communication.

It is clear that this submarine optical cable system will quicken mobile phone roaming services, thus, making it easier and faster for people in these nations to interact and carry out their business and economic endeavors.

Tanzania and Seychelles have been in a forefront war against Somali piracy in the Indian Ocean in efforts to make this part of Africa a peaceful area and are in dire need for this fiber-optic cable which will quicken communication in this area hence making the task of fighting the piracy easier.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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