African internet prices to be reduced thanks to R350m fibre cable

27 May 2011

Broadband prices across Africa could be reduced following news that a R350 million (£30.6 million) fibre system linking Gauteng and Mtunzini on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast has been switched on.

The system, which is owned by Dark Fibre Africa, consists of 540 fibre pairs and is capable of downloading more than 1,000 high-definition movies per second if each fibre pair is equipped at a conservative 10Gbit/s, the company says.

Passing through towns such as Middelburg, Ermelo, Piet Retief, Stanger and Empangeni, the cable was built within 14 months of funding being acquired, Tech Central reports.

The route is the first between Johannesburg and the coastal town to operate on "open-access principles", something which Dark Fibre Africa believes will have a significant impact on the cost of connectivity for internet service providers and telecommunications operators.

Meanwhile, internet and satellite TV access across East Africa is to be improved thanks to multi-million-pound investment by Kenya's Wananchi Group, Business Daily reported earlier this year.

Category: ICT