LUANDA, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The installation of the first direct link between Africa and South America will be made on Friday in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil, the chairperson of Angola Cables Executive Committee Antonio Nunes told local media Thursday.
The official said that the installation of the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) on the Brazilian coast will be an important milestone for the conclusion of this strategic project for Angola, as it represents a turn of the page in the world digital communications, especially since it is the first direct link between the African and South American continents.
According to him, with the launch of this system in Luanda (Angola) and Fortaleza (Brazil), the waiting time for communications of about 350 thousandths of a second will be reduced to just over 60 thousandths of a second.
He stressed that the content produced in these regions and the international connectivity provided by submarine cables could generate great economic benefits mainly for Angola, with great potential of attracting technological companies of the region that need high connectivity.
"The project enters the final phase, which translates to how close we are to the realization of this ambitious project that will put Angola on the world map of telecommunications," he said
"With the completion of SACS soon, and its entry into operation in the third quarter of this year, Angola is increasingly close to becoming one of the telecommunications centers in the sub-Saharan region," he said.
To Nunes, this phase of cable installation in shallow water is "one of the most important aspects of the project, not only because it is the final part, but also because it is the phase in which various levels of interaction and activity with different entities are required simultaneously."
"When SACS is operational, we will see a significant improvement in communications between Angola, African countries, and the Americas. The waiting time for communications, known as latency, is going to reduce fivefold, from the current about 350 thousandths of a second to just over 60 thousandths of a second," he said.
SACS incorporates optical technology capable of providing the most advanced submarine telecommunications system. The Submarine Cable will have an initial capacity of 40 terabits per second (tpbs), equivalent to 100 gigabits per second (gbps) x 100 wavelength x 4 pairs of fiber.
