Internet services provider's Nigeria-Cameroon submarine cable goes live

Internet services provider, MainOne, has announced that it’s high-capacity Nigerian-Cameroun Submarine Cable System (NCSCS) connecting Lagos, Nigeria and Kribi, Cameroun has been completed and went live last month.

According to MainOne, the cable is an important part of the Cameroonian government’s plan to provide internet access to its citizens via a national Broadband Network.

TechCabal reports that the submarine cable installation commenced in June 2015, following a three-way partnership between MainOne, The ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Cameroun and Huawei Marine Networks.

The Cameroonian Government also invested in the project.

The cable, a six-pair, 1,100 km repeater submarine cable system, will deliver capacity of up to 12.8 Tbps to broadband users in Cameroun.

The extension is expected to boost Cameroon’s low fixed broadband penetration, currently estimated to be at about five percent.

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“We have seen phenomenal changes across other areas with internet infrastructure such as Lagos, Nigeria where Yaba’s Silicon Hub continues to provide opportunities for jobs, increased investor funding, and enhanced social entrepreneurship which is pushing the frontiers of eCommerce in Nigeria. Nigeria’s South-South region and Cameroun now have the platform to leverage the same quality of access to the internet to catalyze social, economic and technological development,” said Kazeem Oladepo, regional executive for West Africa, MainOne.

“The NCSCS system enables us to provide users with faster bandwidth connectivity at a significantly lower cost. By providing direct connection to Nigeria, the cable system will also serve to enhance Cameroon’s position as the major bandwidth hub in the region and internationally to Europe and beyond,” added David Nkoto Emane, general manager, Cameroon Telecommunications Corporation (CAMTEL).

According to TechCabal, the cable is built with branching units for strategic extenson of its connectivity into Escravos in Delta State, Qua Iboa in Akwa Ibom State, and Bonny Island in Rivers State, all in Nigeria.