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[tech central] The second high-capacity fibre-optic submarine cable system along Africa’s east coast will be brought ashore at Mtunzini, north of Durban, this weekend. The East African Submarine System (Eassy) will join Seacom in providing connectivity to countries in East Africa when it goes live in July.

Eassy, whose investors include MTN, Telkom and Vodacom, will provide connectivity to a number of countries in East Africa, including Kenya. The cable is being laid by the Ile de Batz, which is currently in port in Durban.

When completed, the cable will run from Mtunzini to Port of Sudan in the Red Sea, from where it will connect to systems linking India and Europe.

Local telecommunications groups are pumping millions of dollars into Eassy, which has a design capacity of 1,4Tbit/s. MTN, for one, says it has committed more than US$40m to the project.

Eassy, the physical cable for which is being supplied by an Alcatel-Lucent factory in Calais, France, is an operator-led initiative. Non-SA shareholders include India’s Bharti and France Telecom.

Eassy to come ashore this weekend