MainOne upgrading fibre and broadband across West Africa

MainOne, a connectivity and data center solutions company, reinforced its commitment to enhancing its submarine cable assets. The submarine cable industry has greatly changed over the past few years. Sharing his thoughts the company’s Acting Chief Technical Officer, Ravi Kannikeswaran, said, “The submarine cable industry has greatly changed over the past few years. Following a multi-year construction drought, systems are being upgraded and new systems are being announced in many regions of the world. This is largely driven by the need to bring large amounts of content closer to the user. In realisation of this need, MainOne is adopting global trends to ensure its submarine cable systems continue to provide the best performance in West Africa.”

Continuing, he opined that, “With its track record of 100% availability on its cable since inception, MainOne continues to ensure it remains at the forefront of technology and management strategies to sustain its track record of excellence. This is why we continue to champion the cause for submarine cable protection in West Africa and constantly upgrade our system to ensure the required performance.”

MainOne, the operator of the premier Tier III data center in West Africa MDX-I, is also championing the cause for effective broadband penetration in Ghana, Nigeria and the West African sub-region to address the increasing demand for reliable broadband connectivity in the region.

MainOne’s Regional Executive, West Africa, Kazeem Oladepo said, “Unlike mobile telephony, broadband is taking a slower pace at growth. We are not seeing the same level of development on the data side which is the broadband connectivity side of ICT indicators.” He remarked that telephony has grown remarkably but data is still not where we expect it to be, it averages around 35% to 36% for the region. “When you look at Africa as a whole, it is a fair advancement, but not impressive, given the advances that were made in mobile telephony and the state of broadband connectivity globally.”

Speaking further, he noted that in comparison with other parts of the world, Africa’s contribution to internet connectivity is rated around 8% of global eyeballs on the internet today, which when compared with the population of the world and the percentage that Africa has of that population, is obviously not encouraging. He emphasised that the factors that drive connectivity requires strong policy intervention both in terms of access to ICT infrastructure facilities and service and the provision of the services generally – the demand and supply side of the broadband ecosystem.

Commenting on MainOne’s recent extension of its submarine cable infrastructure to Cameroun, Oladepo said that its aim is to grow connectivity, grow access to ICT infrastructure, grow regional integration, and facilitate regional trade. This he said will be replicated in Ivory Coast and Senegal this year, paving the way to achieving the Company’s key objective of bridging the gap in the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the World.

Oladepo reiterated MainOne’s commitment to the broadband penetration drive across the West African sub region, adding that the organisation will continue to address the increasing demand for reliable broadband connectivity. He called on governments’ in Ghana and Nigeria in particular, and telecoms operators to support through direct intervention and policies factors that will enable the deployment of broadband in a cost-effective manner that maximises the reach of the operator’s capital and improves the African economy.

With particular reference to the company’s operations in Ghana, Oladepo reiterated his statement in August 2015, when he referred to the impact MainOne’s broadband solutions would have on Tema in the greater Ghana region as a result of the company’s fiber to the area. He restated his statement that the company’s objective for the build was to guarantee optimum service levels for broadband connectivity in Tema and immediate environs, and MainOne’s commitment to the future growth plans of its customers.

He further stressed the Company’s commitment to improving its network reach to provide resilience to its customers in Ghana generally, adding that the company’s objective for the Tema build remains setting-up a Point of Presence where large enterprise and corporate clients can subscribe to wholesale connectivity solutions to address the opportunities prevalent in the harbor hub of Ghana.