TECHDIGEST – The Equiano cable, named after Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, is a cutting-edge infrastructure based on space-division multiplexing (SDM) technology, with 12 fiber pairs and a design capacity of 144Tbps, roughly 20 times more network capacity than the previous cable built to serve this region.

Olaudah was born in the Eboe (Igbo) region of the Kingdom of Benin (today Southeast Nigeria) and was enslaved as a child, according to his memoir.

He was sold as a slave to a Royal Navy officer and transported to the Caribbean. After that, he was sold twice more, but in 1766, he purchased his freedom.

Submarine Internet cables mostly known as fiber optic cables too, are one of the main reasons you can read this article while simultaneously streaming content from YouTube and Netflix and uploading content to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.

Submarine cables have enormous potential benefits, but we won’t see them unless appropriate measures are taken to capitalize on their capabilities.

Terrestrial cables assist in bringing Internet capacity to our homes and offices as subsea cables arrive on the coast.

Even though Africa has a lot of submarine cable capacity, it has not affected your download speeds or streaming quality.

Africa had a submarine cable capacity of 100 Tbps by 2020, but only used 10 percent of it. Your current mobile download speed may very well be slightly higher or lower than 18.7 Mbps, depending on your location. It will most likely be much slower if you do not live in a city.

Starting in Portugal, the Equiano cable travels over 12,000 kilometers along Africa’s West Coast, passing through Lomé, Togo, Lagos, Nigeria, Swakopmund, Namibia, Rupert’s Bay, and Saint Helena, and Melkbosstrand, South Africa.

In terms of the internet infrastructure, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most underserved region on the planet. Penetration in the United States is at 29 percent, while it is at 40 percent for the entire continent (including North Africa). Nigeria has the largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Even so, by 2020, the percentage of people who used the internet was around 35.5 percent.

The cable has a total of 12 fiber pairs. It can handle up to 144 terabits per second of data (114tpbs). As a result, the new network has the potential to increase internet speed sixfold from 11 Mbps in 2021 to 65 Mbps in 2025, double internet penetration, and slash internet prices by 21 percent across Africa.

Africa’s digital transformation and internet economy are expected to grow from USD 115 billion in 2020 to USD 180 billion in 2025 and USD 712 billion by 2050, thanks to a well-developed connectivity infrastructure.

The Equiano cable system’s Nigeria branch is the system’s first verified branch. It is to be installed in phases, according to the Environmental Sustainability Impact Assessment document.

The West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) Nigeria Limited partnered with Google as the landing partner in Nigeria for the Equiano cable system.

Prof. Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami, while expressing delight over the project, pledged to continue driving policy initiatives that encourage infrastructure investment in the Nigerian telecom industry to deepen connectivity and boost the country’s growth and development.

The minister commended Google LLC, the WIOCC, and other investors for bringing more bandwidth into the country to boost connectivity and growth.

Similarly, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Prof. Umar Dambatta, management staff of the Commission as well as experts in the ICT sector noted that the project would further boost internet connectivity in Nigeria.

Undoubtedly, the arrival of the Equiano cable in Nigeria is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s position as a regional connectivity hub, attracting cloud operators, content providers, content distribution networks, and their ecosystems for greater growth.

Fom Gyem
Wuye District Abuja

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TECHDIGEST – Professor Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, and Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), have expressed delight with the reception marking the landing of the Equiano undersea Cable System in Nigeria at the Open Access Data Centre at Lekki in Lagos.

The Minister and the EVC have also promised to continue to drive policy initiatives that promote investment in infrastructure in the Nigerian telecom industry in order to deepen connectivity to enhance the nation’s growth and development.

Pantami and Danbatta commended Google LLC, the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), and other investors for bringing additional bandwidth capacity into the country to drive connectivity and growth.

While Pantami was represented at the event by , Adeleke Adewolu, NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Danbatta was represented by Ubale Maska, the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services at NCC.

Other senior management staff of the Commission at the event included Bako Wakil, the NCC’s Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, and Yomi Arowosafe, the Controller, NCC’s Ibadan Zonal Office.

The Minister said the Federal Government, through the Ministry, will continue to drive the implementation of existing digital economy-oriented policies already put in place by the current administration.

Pantami also promised an enabling environment that encourages foreign and local investment in infrastructure project such as the way Google and its co-investors have done.

Also commenting, Danbatta said the Commission’s expectations, initiatives, and vision towards increasing broadband penetration, quality of service, advancement of a digital economy, and commitment to improving national security through technological advancement, are on the priority list of its regulatory interventions.

Danbatta expressed delight that Equiano has joined the list of other submarine cables at the shores of Nigeria, including SAT3 cable, MainOne cable, Glo1 cable, ACE cable WACS cable, Dolphin by Natcom, and MTN respectively.

The EVC assured stakeholders of Commission’s commitment towards ensuring that the huge bandwidth capacity from these cables at shore in Lagos would be transmitted to different part of the country to drive robust and ubiquitous infrastructure.

This is in keeping with the provisions of the digital economy policy being implemented by government in collaboration with all stakeholders.

The EVC expressed optimism that Google’s investment in the subsea cable, Equiano, will be significant in driving NCC’s ongoing implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025, which aims at increasing broadband penetration to 70 per cent by 2025.

“We are hopeful that Equiano, together with earlier undersea cables in the country, will have additional landing points in the hinterlands through collaborative efforts with NCC-licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos). This will help to reduce retail data prices significantly and thereby complementing the Commission’s efforts at ensuring that affordable Internet services are available to boost Commission’s ongoing broadband policy initiatives”. Danbatta stated and thereby helped to reiterate the objective linkages of policies and plans in the telecom ecosystem, and the national economic strategies.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who also witnessed the unveiling of the Google submarine cable, underscored its centrality to Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to boost job creation and contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), over the next three years.

Chris Wood, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of WIOCC, also described the landing of the submarine cables as a major investment in the Nigerian digital economy.

The new cable system is named after a Nigerian hero, Olaudah Equiano, who survived enslavement in the 18th century and went on to become a famous writer and anti-slavery activist.

Besides, the triumph over challenges, which Equiano’s life symbolised, the landing of the cable in Nigeria is expected to underscore Nigeria’s leadership as a regional hub for connectivity, and thus, set to attract cloud operators, content providers, content distribution networks and their associated ecosystems.

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