2Africa Update - Cable Landings Stations, Capacity Availability & POPs - Part 1

1. 2Africa is vastly superior to the older African cables in cost, performance, and footprint. It has 9x the capacity of WACS or ACE. Cross connects are capped at $150 per month at the CLS and most hand offs are at carrier neutral facilities. The cable is buried 2 meters in deep in shallow coastal waters (1000 meters or less in depth) versus 1 meter or less for older systems. It bypasses all known danger spots such as subsea canyons with their debris slides.

2. Sénégal

A. ONIX is the main 2Africa POP in Dakar. Note that consortium members are free to place their SLTEs where they desire in Dakar. So other sites may also be on-net. The Dakar CLS just houses the power feed equipment.

B. ONIX just opened its doors to customers so expect 2Africa service to begin near year's end.

C Sénégal is a significant challenge for capacity buyers because at least one major consortium player elected to skip it.

D. I have great 100G pricing for the LS1 to ONIX route at $17.5K a month on a 1 year term. Shop as hard as you want, you are highly unlikely to get an offer anywhere this good.

3. Cote d'Ivoire

A. The 2Africa POP was supposed to be at a planned PAIX facility, but the latter project never materialized. It appears to be the Raxio facility for handoffs as that is the most modern facility with a Tier 3 rating.

B. A recent 64 pair dark fibre build into the 2Africa CLS gives you option for connecting to the cable. Please contact me for details and an offer.

C. Expect 100G pricing to be relatively high in the upper 20s or low 30s. This is because the older cables are charging high cross connect fees.

4. Ghana

A. Ghana is Africa's version of the Telecom Wild West. Telecommunications is deregulated and vibrant.

B. 2Africa has a CLS in the Digital Realty campus in Accra, but it appears to be just a power facility. Most carriers are interconnecting with customers either at a carrier neutral DR building or the highly PAIX facility.

C. To get around Accra you can lease dark fibre pairs at $6K to $9K per month. A license may be required. Or you can get route protected 100G waves at $5K MRC. Fully diverse fibre ring between the CLS, DR, and PAIX.

D. Ghana 100G pricing to other African states like Nigeria will be in the low 20s. PAIX will be in upper 20s. DR around $25K MRC. Figure 2 year terms.

E. Ghana is ready for service mid-August. So order now so you can get your place in the queue.

5. Nigeria

A. The country has the luxury of both 2Africa and Equiano making it their home. So there will be excellent sub-20K 100G deals to Europe. Grab them.

B. Most 2Africa consortium members are providing service at the former Medallion facilities (now DR). But others are doing wave hand offs at MDXI.

C. If you need protected 100Gs to connect your existing networks to 2Africa, they are reasonably priced. Contact me for a quote. Figure $4K to $7K MRC.