Four Southern African countries – Mauritius, Reunion Island, Madagascar and South Africa – are now interlinked by the Metiss submarine cable, a 3 200 km latest generation fiber optic, reports from Port-Louis, the Mauritian capital, said.
It is a dream that becomes reality after five years of several stages that included feasibility studies, choice of technical partners, reconnaissance of the seabed, and the cable’s manufacture.
The finalisation of the landing agreements in South Africa and the training of the operating teams in each of the four countries was the final step that led to the launch in March 2021. Metiss has been designed to offer a capacity of 24 terabits per second, or 24 times more than the last system deployed in 2010 in the region.
The cable is expected to generate a much faster internet transit time, and provide a direct route to Google, Microsoft, Facebook and other South African-based content providers.
Six regional operators (EMTEL, CEB, TELMA, SRR, CANAL+ TELECOM and ZEOP) are the founding partners of the project, which also benefited from the initial support of the Indian Ocean Commission. “These five years of intense work are a good example of cooperation between the six regional operators,” Xavier Hermesse, Metiss Consortium President, said.
