NEW DELHI -- In a move that is set to hugely boost connectivity of East African countries with rest of the world, Bharti Airtel, one of the leading emerging markets’ telcos together with global telcos today announced the launch of the EASSy cable system. This 10000 Km cable has received investment of around $263 million and has a capacity of 1.4 terabits per second, making it the largest submarine cable system serving the African continent.

EASSy is the first East coast system to connect a direct route to Europe thereby helping to deliver data traffic faster to key internet peering points in Europe and North America. It connects Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan ( in Sudan ) with landing points in nine countries. This cable system is expected to prove a boon in proliferation of broadband connectivity to all parts of Africa, a prerequisite for the successful production of e-commerce, internet, and other broadband applications and projects on the continent.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Ajay Chitkara, CEO, Global Data Business , Bharti Airtel said, “Our investment of over US $500 million over the last two years are designed to create a global network that offers unmatched resilience and maximum diversity. The commencement of EASSy cable system is a significant step in our journey to create a robust undersea cable infrastructure for our customers. It will also safeguard & ensure all time connectivity of East African countries with the world. This will facilitate proliferation of ICT services thereby ensuring macro economic development of the region. Bharti Airtel is proud to be part of the consortium building this significant undersea cable system.”

Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL)