The Island nation of Madagascar has been connected to Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System, EASSy fibre optic cable that connects countries on Africa’s eastern coast to the rest of the world, Telecom Malagasy (Telma) said Saturday.

The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is an initiative to connect countries of eastern Africa via a high bandwidth fibre optic cable system to the rest of the world. It is considered a milestone in the development of information infrastructure in the region.

According to Telma, it has already put in place a national backbone that will enable it to link users to the cable.  Telma has invested 70 Million USD in a 3300km National Fiber Optic Backbone; Telma is also the 5th contributor to the EASSY.

Once users have access to the cable, the island should be able to develop outsourcing activities such as call centres, Telma said.

Twenty-seven operators from 22 countries, both on Africa’s eastern coast and their landlocked neighbours, have joined together in the EASSy project worth some $260m overall.

Madagascar was already connected last year by telecoms operator Orange to the submarine Lion cable, which linked it to two other Indian Ocean islands, Reunion and Mauritius.

Source: News 24