President Jakaya Kikwete presses a knob to inaugurate the Seacom International undersea fibre optic network at an occasion held in Dares Salaam yesterday. Left is Science, Technology and Communication minister Peter Msola.

The submarine cable launched yesterday in Dar es Salaam is expected to revolutionise internet and telecommunication services in the country by improving efficiency and easing the current costs by over one third, it was announced yesterday.

President Jakaya Kikwete, who graced the glamorous function to launch the SEACOM Ltd’s optic fibre cable at Kunduchi area on the shores of the Indian Ocean, highlighted the good news in his speech to officially kickstart the project.

“This project comes with many social and economic benefits ….But; in short, this tiny, but powerful cable almost literally bridges the digital divide. It will empower Tanzanians and other East Africans to become fully digital citizens of the 21st century. It is the ultimate embodiment of modernity and global connectivity,” he said.

He noted that until yesterday, the Eastern African coast was the longest coastline in the world without optic fibre cable connection to the rest of the world. “Today, this is history,” he declared.

He said the arrival of the cable before the end of the first decade of the 21st century signals the beginning of a new era in the telecommunications sector, particularly data services, in the East African region.

However, he said the landing of the cable on Tanzanian shores could only be useful if there was a terrestrial link to pull it further inland to the masses of users.

“I am happy to let you know that, we already have some existing network with Tanzania Electricity Company (Tanesco), Tanzania Railways Limited and Songo Songo Gas Pipeline. But, we have been working on a wider network to cover the whole country,” he said.

Kikwete added that the government has secured part of the financing and work has started of laying the National Optic Fibre Cable (OFC) network to serve as the information and communication technology backbone.

Part of the network, he said, will become operational this year, covering a distance of 10,674 kilometers, including the pre-existing cable network.

“As we celebrate here today, construction work for this cable is ongoing from Singida towards Shinyanga, Mwanza, Rusumo (Rwanda Border), Mtukula (Uganda Border) and Kabanga (Burundi Border),” he said, adding: “Through our terrestrial cable network, we want to move this cable fast to our East African neighbours of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.”

He said the SEACOM system test performed to connect the Mbezi landing station to sites within Dar es Salaam has shown good performance.

“I have also been made to understand that, in a few days to come, it will be ready for use in Dodoma including the University of Dodoma, Prime Minister’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, Ministry of Communications Science and Technology and the Parliament. In this regard, we are ready to use the SEACOM landing station capacity and also ready to work with you to position Tanzania as an important Regional ICT player,” he said.

He said the coming of SEACOM submarine cable system to Tanzania would enhance the nation’s capacity to create digital opportunities to areas with coverage as well act as a catalyst to reduce the digital divide in the under-served and un-served areas.

“My desire is to ensure that the opportunities provided by the SEACOM sub-marine cable system reach all Tanzanians irrespective of their geographical location or economic status,” said Kikwete.

However, he cautioned: “While we are celebrating the lighting of SEACOM cable here today, I wish to bring to your attention the importance of taking into account security and safety measures.”

He said there was need to work towards devising strong systems for protecting information at all levels: individual, group, institutional, national and global levels.

Earlier, SEACOM Chief Executive Officer, Brian Herlihy said that the submarine cable would help Tanzanians, particularly in education, health and economic sectors.

He said for the economic sector, the new system was set to change by 100 percent the market system with farmers within the country being able to advertise their products to the developed world through the internet.

“The system is very fast and cheap, therefore local farmers from rural areas will be able to sell their products by advertising them through SEACOM,” said Brian.

Said Abdallah, Chief Operating Officer of an international Telecommunication gateway company, Six Telecoms Company Ltd, said that the introduction of the undersea fibre cable would help the telecommunication middlemen in the country cut down costs, thereby reducing consumer prices for communication services to end users.

Abdallah said that the technology coming with the submarine cable, which replaces the use of satellite, would help in speeding up international communication by around 70 to 80 per cent.

SOURCE: IPPMEDIA