Network operator ponders building submarine cable

African carrier Seacom is investigating the feasibility of building a submarine cable that would run across the heart of Africa, on land.

Senior Transmission Architect Nic Breytenbach explained that apparent contradiction to The Register by pointing out that submarine cables run up and down Africa’s east and west coasts, but that no single connection crosses the continent. When submarine cables on the east coast – which mostly carry traffic to Europe or Asia – experience trouble, carriers must route traffic south around the Cape of Good Hope, then all the way up Africa’s west coast. Capacity on submarine cables is hard to find, and expensive when available.

The journey around Africa, or routing onto alternative east coast cables, therefore adds unwelcome cost and latency that carriers co