Shell Uses C&W in Nigeria

LONDON -- Cable & Wireless, the international telecommunications group, today announced an agreement with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria to provide a fully managed fixed-line communications service for its operations in Nigeria using the SAT3 cable system. This extends previous agreements with Shell companies in Cameroon and Gabon and enables these companies to use fixed-line, rather than satellite, technology to achieve faster and more reliable communications both within the West Africa region and globally.

As the fixed-line network is scalable and offers far greater capacity than satellite technology, it can also support new applications, such as e-learning and access to application service providers (ASPs). This new infrastructure will enable Shell’s West African companies to achieve the following objectives:

Cable & Wireless is using the SAT3 cable system, which it has co-funded, to provide Shell’s West African connectivity. This is the first state-of-the-art fibre optic cable system to link West African countries with Europe and Asia, and allows Shell to integrate its West African businesses more effectively into its global communications infrastructure. The project has been completed in co-ordination with the regional telecommunications companies, Nitel, CamTel and GabonTel.

Frank Edozie, IT Manager for Shell Exploration & Production’s Africa region, said, “We chose Cable & Wireless because we needed an international communications company that could understand our local requirements, and work with government and industry partners to deliver a single solution.”

Robin Morgan, managing director, Retail & Industry, Cable & Wireless, said, “This new extension to our existing relationship with Shell demonstrates our ability to serve multinational organisations on a global basis.”

Cable & Wireless plc