A turnkey contract has been signed by communications solutions provider Alcatel-Lucent with the Government of Equatorial Guinea, to introduce a new, domestic submarine cable network to connect the cities of Malabo, on the northern coast of the Bioko island, to Bata, on the continent.
The company said the new network will foster the availability and accessibility to high quality, new broadband applications at more affordable costs, helping to reduce the digital divide.
According to Alcatel-Lucent, the new connection is due for completion at the end of the first quarter of 2009, will cover 280km and offer an ultimate capacity of 80Gb/s. It will interconnect with current and future cable routes, improving the international connectivity and reliability of Equatorial Guinea's communications infrastructure.
The new submarine cable network will have a landing point in Bata and will also contribute backhauling the traffic carried over the country's current microwave network.
The network is expected to enable Equatorial Guinea to continue evolving its living standards, via a flexible communication infrastructure, which will meet new service demands reliably and cost effectively.