Kevin Nyango
TechInAfrica – Orange (www.Orange.com), a French Telecoms company starts a partnership with West African and Data Centre services provider, MainOne (www.MainOne.net). Orange will co-invest in two new cable landing stations in Dakar, Senegal, and Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. On the other side, MainOne will invest in providing additional capacity through its 7000km cable system from Europe to Africa. The landing stations will be in Nigeria, Ghana, and Portugal where it is expected to strengthen both companies in the African telecommunication world.
The cable connection will bring advantages to some of the African countries in West Africa, including better connectivity, affordable, and access to new services. Orange will bring an advantage by providing multiple Terabits per second of additional bandwidth for the improvement of fixed and mobile data in the continent. It aims to fulfill the demands for Internet access via 3G and 4G network. Shortly, this cable connection project is a big chance to develop connectivity and provide a wider range of services for both companies. The benefit also reaches the neighbor countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Mauritania.
The partnership with Orange gives MainOne a benefit in term of making the company’s vision crystal clear. The company is committed to improving connectivity regionally. As what’s said by the Chief Officer of MainOne: “MainOne commits to invest in low-price connectivity so that it will drive national economic development. Our mission is to provide the digital divide within and between West Africa and other countries in the world. The investment in technological advancement is expected to liberalize the global bandwidth market. Furthermore, the Orange’s support and customers will result in better digital services within the area.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Orange Middle East and Africa, Alioune Ndiaye speaks about the strategic deal: “The advancement of new digital services in Africa has given huge impacts on both social and economic development over the years. Through the partnership with MainOne, Orange continues its service by providing advanced network as well as affordable equipment in order to strengthen its position in the digital transformation of the continent.
The ultra-fast Submarine Cable System provided by MainOne links West Africa with Europe. The cable system was first launched and introduced publicly in July 2010 which now is upgraded to over 10 TBPS and runs from Seixal in Portugal to Accara in Chana to Lagos in Nigeria. The cable system also has the capacity to land in Morocco, Canary Islands, Senegal, Senegal, and Cote D’Ivoire.
