Globacom to build second submarine cable

Globacom Limited, telecommunications giant, has awarded a contract to construct a multi-billion naira optic fibre submarine cable to boost telecommunications service in the country.

This was disclosed at a contract-signing ceremony between the telecommunications company and Huawei, a global telecom solutions vendors, in Lagos.

• WHAT IS SUBMARINE CABLE?

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea.

Named Glo 2, it was described as a giant leap to boost ICT in Nigeria.

Sanjib Roy, Globacom’s regional director, technical, said that the submarine cable would wind round the Nigerian coast from Alpha Beach in Lagos, where Glo 1 landing station is located, to the southern part of Nigeria as well as avail ultra-high capacity connection to the south-south region where capacity will be provided to offshore oil platforms and the communities.

Glo 2 project is expected to add to the economic and social empowerment of the communities in the oil-producing regions.

The company said it will equally provide high-speed internet connectivity as well as digitalise oil platforms with a view to improving productivity by uploading data to remote oil platforms at the speed of light.

“Glo2 will be the first submarine cable in Nigeria to land outside Lagos as the five existing submarine cables only landed in Lagos,” Sajib said.

“Glo 2 will have the capacity the of 12 Terabit per second and will provide ultra-high speed connection to oil platforms and communities to empower data coverage and support enterprise market growth in this part of Nigeria.”

He disclosed that Glo is the first to provide dedicated submarine optical fiber to oil platforms to support the growth of the Nigerian economy while assisting oil Communities to cut down on their operational expenditure.

“It is also designed for further expansion southwards to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, among others,” he said.

Li Belfang, managing director of Huawei, declared that the company is proud to partner with Globacom to build a revolutionary submarine cable using innovative and leading technology.

“We believe the cable would bring a new era of digitalization to Nigerian economy,” he said.