Google Brings Its Subsea Cable To Africa For Faster, More Reliable Internet

Google has introduced a submarine cable to Togo, allowing them to become the first country in West Africa to tap on fifth-generation (5G) mobile services. 

The Equiano subsea cable was unveiled as part of the company’s US$1 billion plan to ramp up digital connectivity on the continent, and is scheduled to link Africa (Nigeria, Namibia, and South Africa) to Europe via Portugal. 

“Our vision is to become a digital hub and we need connectivity,” said Cina Lawson, Digital Economy Minister of Togo. 

“We’re going to have an awful lot of capacity through this cable. We’re going to be able to retail capacity to other countries.”

Google said Equiano was the “first subsea cable to incorporate optical switching at the fiber-pair level,” allowing the firm the flexibility of adding to or relocating it to different locations when needed.  

As per Bloomberg, a study by the Africa Practice and Genesis Analytics, which was commissioned by Google, found that the new cable could double internet speeds on Togo by 2025, and cut prices by nearly 15%.

Even more impressively, once the cable has been set up, it is said to power Togo with 20 times more bandwidth than any other nation in the West Africa region. In addition, the growth of its digital economy could also indirectly create 37,000 new jobs over the next three years. 

[via Google, Bloomberg, and TechRadar, cover image via chinthamb / Shutterstock.com]