This archive report was first published on 20 December 2019.
December 20, 2019
Djibouti Telecom, Somtel, and SubCom have announced the completion of all manufacturing aspects for the Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE1) submarine cable system.
The system will have four landing stations in Djibouti, Bosaso (Somalia), Mogadishu (Somalia), and Mombasa (Kenya), expanding connectivity in Eastern Africa.
With a finalised cable length of 4,854 km, DARE1 will include three branching units and 41 dual-stage repeaters to maximise its capacity.
The loading of the cable onto the marine vessel SubCom Durable commenced on November 13, 2019, and is forecasted to be complete by December 3, 2019.
The system is on track to be ready for commercial traffic in June 2020.
The four cable landing points are located in port cities along the eastern coast of Africa and will enable enhanced communication and connection with other cable systems around the globe.
According to Mohamed Assoweh Bouh, Director General of Djibouti Telecom, “We are very pleased that the DARE1 system is progressing on schedule and will be ready for service in 2020.
“We understand the importance of bringing connectivity to eastern Africa and couldn’t imagine a better company to partner with to achieve this mission other than SubCom,” he added.
Ismael Duale, CTO of Somtel Group, stated, “We’re thrilled that this major milestone has been completed in the DARE1 project. Somtel’s customers will soon be able to experience Internet plans with greater reliability and higher speeds, as well as more choices at affordable prices.”
Kebaso Mokogi, MD for Carrier Services at Telkom Kenya, said, “Telkom is excited to be the landing party in Nyali, Mombasa, with the DARE-1 consortium, considering the benefits it has in store for the country.
“This investment will offer diversity in the routing of traffic and will also provide for fibre continuity, cognisant of the risk at the high seas. The development of regional backbones such as the DARE-1 will also increase access to data in the region, with eventual gains being realised on cost for the end consumer,” he added.
Debbie Brask, Vice President – Project Management at SubCom, said, “The timely manufacture of the DARE1 undersea plant keeps us on schedule to get this system ready for service in June, 2020.
“This is a testament to our talented manufacturing team and our strong partnership with Djibouti Telecom and Somtel, and we’re looking forward to commencing installation,” she concluded.
