Building the African Internet

SEACOM is a privately financed, developed and owned submarine fibre optic cable network bringing high quality, affordable wholesale broadband capacity to Africa through the sale of wholesale bandwidth and associated services on an open-access basis since July 2009.

SEACOM's project started off with the initial construction in November 2007. This cable joined the countries of Southern and East Africa, Asia and Europe with the global network and has permanently altered the advanced broadband infrastructure of the African continent.

A Brief History Post-Launch

SEACOM's official launch in July 2009 marked the beginning of positive changes in numerous African countries via the spread of access to wholesale broadband internet. Over 17,000km of undersea fibre optic cable was laid, connecting Africa to the rest of the world via India and Europe. These milestones in history can also be viewed as company successes, as they clearly depict the positive impact that SEACOM and their wholesale bandwidth products have had on the following countries shortly after their launch:

Kenya
  • Within 3 days of the SEACOM launch, Kenya reported a 3-5 times increase in internet speeds.
  • Within 14 days of the launch, Safaricom's CEO reported a 200% increase in data traffic.
  • A 700% overall increase of international bandwidth supply was recorded.
Mozambique
  • International wholesale bandwidth supply increase of 850% was recorded.
  • One ISP customer doubled their bandwidth from September 2009 for the same price, while others are now able to offer their end user a choice: double bandwidth for the same price, or the same amount of bandwidth for half the price.
  • After connecting to SEACOM, another ISP verified a rapid increase in wholesale broadband usage, and is now connecting their second STM-1 circuit in order to respond to their customer's ever-growing needs.
Tanzania
  • Pre-SEACOM international wholesale bandwidth supply was 300Mb/s.
  • Post-SEACOM international bandwidth supply was 3000Mb/s - a 1000% increase.
  • Vodacom's MD stated that margins increased by 30% on the very day they switched from satellite to SEACOM.
  • The University of Dar es Salaam increased capacity by more than 1000% through their relationship with SEACOM. They became the 1st truly "wired" university in East Africa.
Rwanda
  • AllAfrica.com news states on 14 January 2010: "After a full connection to the undersea cable [i.e. SEACOM], Rwandatel's internet subscriber base is projected to increase by 10% in the first 12 months."
  • AllAfrica.com news reports on 14 January 2010: "After signing a contract with SEACOM connectivity last year, Rwandatel acquired 155 Mbps of capacity….The deal is expected to help Rwandatel consolidate its position as Rwanda's leading Internet Service Provider."
South Africa
  • The monthly lease cost for a STM-1 circuit declined by over 80%, from .USD 300,000 per month in 2006 to USD 60,000 per month currently.
  • MTN announced a 50% increase in capacity for certain corporate clients in South Africa, while Telkom and Mweb also announced similar increases.
  • Local internet service providers are offering some of the market's first affordable uncapped wholesale broadband internet data packages.
  • International bandwidth supply increase of 700% is reported.

The Future of Broadband

SEACOM believes in a world where the African Internet experience is interconnected and characterised by abundant local content, minimal latency as well as fast download and streaming speeds. This vision is at the heart of SEACOM's commitment to Building the African Internet.

SEACOM is continuing to innovate, drive & enable the African internet experience by building reliable open-access, high speed communication solutions.