Angola Cables has announced a strategic partnership with DE-CIX, the German internet exchange operator headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that establishes a long-term collaboration and creates the foundations of what the companies call a 'new neutral interconnection environment in the Republic of Angola'.
Africa has some of the lowest internet and telephony penetration rates in the world. That, however, is changing rapidly, with projects like the West African Cable System (WACS) and the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) being planned and deployed to deliver much-needed connectivity to the continent. Angola hosts one of the landing sites for WACS and the African landing site for SACS. Angola Cables is the company managing the Angolan participation in both these projects.
Angola Cables will be supported by DE-CIX via the MOU, as the company aims to create an enhanced interconnection environment to deliver more robust Internet services throughout the region. Despite the continent of Africa collectively reporting less than one terabit per second of traffic today, the Republic of Angola currently reports up to 20 gigabits/s. Demand is expected to rise across Africa to as much as 10 terabits/s by 2020.
'Angola is at an important point in its history,' said António Nunes, president of Angola Cables.
'The MOU comes at a critical time in the development of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Internet market, as major global and local players increasingly face the challenge of promoting innovative Internet services while continuing to ensure safe and effective online usage. DE-CIX has experience in developing strong internet ecosystems around the world, and we look forward to working with them.'
