The landing of Equiano cable extends WIOCC’s wholesale offering in South Africa.

WIOCC’s commitment to delivering a market-leading portfolio of wholesale services based on strategic investment in subsea and terrestrial digital infrastructure has been further demonstrated with the arrival in South Africa, on 8 August 2022, of Google’s Equiano cable.

WIOCC is a key partner in Equiano, landing the cable in Lagos, Nigeria, and owning a full fibre pair on the system. Partnering in bringing Equiano to Africa further reinforces WIOCC’s ability to support its clients in extending their reach and capability across Southern Africa.

WIOCC Group CEO Chris Wood commented: “Having invested multiple billions of Rand in enhancing our 16Tbps-ready, Optical Transport Network-enabled national hyperscale network infrastructure[1], we are extremely well positioned to provide businesses with access to fully upgradeable, quickly and easily scalable capacity throughout South Africa and into neighbouring countries, over one of the most future-proof networks in the country.”

As a fibre pair owner, WIOCC’s Equiano capacity is upgradable fully under its own control. WIOCC owns and manages its own Submarine Line Terminating Equipment (SLTE), choosing to light and upgrade its capacity exactly as it wishes to meet the needs and demands of its clients.

WIOCC’s Equiano capacity will be extended into a new Open Access Data Centres (OADC – a WIOCC Group company) facility currently undergoing fit-out in Rondebosch, Cape Town, where clients can interconnect with terrestrial infrastructure providers, cloud networks, partners, suppliers and other ecosystem members.

OADC has been extremely active in South Africa, where it recently announced it would have three new core data centres (DCs) – one in Johannesburg and two in Cape Town – live by the end of Q3 2022. These three core DCs are integral to OADC’s unique, core-to-edge, open-access DC offering, which currently includes another core DC, OADC Durban, and 25 (growing over the next 9 months to over 100) up to 150kW OADC EDGE DCs offering colocation, rooftop access and high-speed network interconnectivity between facilities at up to 100Gbps and on multiple routes for diversity.

WIOCC’s Chris Wood added: “Our investment in Equiano continues our long-standing policy of making strategic investments in subsea cables. We own almost a third of the >10Tbps EASSy system, which extends from South Africa along Africa’s eastern coastline to Djibouti and Port Sudan; we deliver more capacity than any other carrier on the WACS system, which links South Africa to western Europe and lands in many countries along the west coast of Africa; and we are a member of the 2Africa cable, which will bring another high-capacity connectivity option to Africa during 2023/24.”

Services available from WIOCC in South Africa include high-quality Carrier IP Transit (IPT), point-to-point national connectivity and high-performance Metro Connect, and open access colocation services in specific locations – through WIOCC Group company Open Access Data Centres. In each case, solutions can be tailored to meet clients’ specific requirements and are backed by first-class support – which includes WIOCC’s highly-responsive Client Champions, who are available 24x7x365.

WIOCC lands Google’s Equiano cable in Nigeria.

Google and cable landing partner WIOCC announced the landing of state-of-the-art Equiano subsea cable in Lagos, Nigeria, which will become a critical element in meeting Nigeria’s current and future international connectivity demands.

The Equiano cable will start in Portugal in western Europe, run more than 12,000km along the West Coast of Africa and initially land in Lomé, Togo; Lagos, Nigeria; Swakopmund, Namibia; Rupert’s Bay, Saint Helena and Melkbosstrand, South Africa; establishing a valuable new high-capacity connection between the African continent and Europe.

Named after Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, the Equiano cable will help support further digital transformation in Nigeria, a country which has produced five start-up unicorns (companies now valued at more than $1 billion).in the past five years.

Expected benefits to Nigeria from Equiano

A recent impact assessment study^[1] by Africa Practice and Genesis Analytics stated that once the state-of-the-art, high-capacity Equiano cable had become fully operational, anticipated later this year, it is expected to bring the following benefits to Nigeria:

Connectivity-related

1. Increase internet speeds by a factor of six
2. Reduce internet retail prices by 21%
3. Increase internet penetration by six percentage points

Economic

1. Boost GDP by USD 10.1 billion by 2025
2. Boost job creation by 1.6 million jobs by 2025

Sustainability

1. Save 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum

The Nigerian government has also stepped up its digital transformation programs since 2017. These initiatives have proven crucial to the success of many industries in the country, especially the startup space. But studies suggest that faster internet connections, better user experiences, and reduced internet costs will further accelerate these benefits.

Last month, the Equiano subsea cable made its first landing in Africa in Lomé, Togo, as a confirmation of the commitment made at the Google for Africa 2021 event to help increase internet access across Africa.