MainOne: NCSCS Subsea Cable Complete

MainOne informed that the Nigerian-Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS) connecting Lagos, Nigeria, Kribi and Cameroon has been completed and went live last month.

The submarine cable installation, which started in June 2015 following a tripartite partnership between MainOne, The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Cameroon and Huawei Marine Networks, had investment provided by the Cameroon Government.

The six-pair, 1,100 kilometer repeater submarine cable system will deliver capacity of up to 12.8Tbps to broadband users in Cameroon. This extension is expected to boost Cameroon’s extremely low fixed broadband penetration, currently estimated to be circa five percent (5%), the company explained.

MainOne’s Regional Executive for West Africa, Kazeem Oladepo, said: “This is an excellent addition to our network and is added proof of our commitment to expand broadband, improve quality and drive down cost of internet services in West Africa. As part of our strategy to boost West Africa’s economic and commercial development, we will continue to make deliberate and significant investments in connectivity projects that will facilitate increased access to broadband. The proposed extension of our submarine system to the Niger Delta region is particularly important for further development of the oil producing region of Nigeria, and will aid the region’s rapid transition from an oil-dependent economy to a knowledge-focused one.”

“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 Cameroon now have the platform to leverage the same quality of access to the Internet to catalyze social, economic and technological development,” Oladepo added.

David Nkoto Emane, General Manager, Cameroon Telecommunications Corporation (CAMTEL), said: “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.”