Submarine cable brings low cost broadband

Lack of capacity and competition on South Africa’s current submarine cables means broadband currently costs more than 10 times as much as in Europe.

The South African government plans to change this situation, they have proposed spending $700 million on a new submarine cable linking South Africa to Brazil and London.

“The government, which controls Telkom, has repeatedly said high costs for phone calls and Internet access are inflating the cost of doing business, deterring investors and impeding the roll-out of basic communications to the poor.” Reuters

The first link is expected to be ready by 2009 connecting South Africa to Brazil and the London stage will follow shortly there after.

It seems the wait for cheaper Internet is long from over but at least the plans are on the table and may I be the first to say this is tax money well spent.