Liquid Telecom, a subsidiary of South Africa-based Econet Wireless Group, has established a satellite hub at Teraco’s satellite earth station in South Africa, in a project reportedly worth several million dollars. According to a company press release, the hub will allow Liquid Telecom to keep telecoms traffic that originates in Africa on the continent, rather than backhauling it via Europe, thus resulting in reduced latency and increased connectivity speeds for its customers.
Liquid Telecom claims to have built Africa’s largest fibre network, which spans more than 17,000km from Uganda to Cape Town, South Africa, and the expansion will allow for the provision of broadband services in areas where fibre is not commercially viable. Liquid Telecom’s CEO Nic Rudnick commented: ‘Our fibre and satellite networks complement each other and enable us to meet the ever-increasing demand for connectivity from across Africa. Teraco is the most connected point in southern Africa and our investment in the earth station and the expansion of our satellite capabilities reflects our commitment to building Africa’s digital future.’
04 Mar 2014
