SEACOM cable go live delayed by a month.
Its official. According to various media sources, the much awaited SEACOM high speed undersea cable will not go live at the end of June 2009 as initially announced in Kenya. The go live of SEACOM has been delayed by a month to the end of July 2009, largely due to logistical challenges of the Somali Pirate menace in the Gulf of Aden. As a result, SEACOM is unable to complete the Asia connection of the cable that will enable it to become operational.
I must say that I am pesonally quite disappointed by the delay since we have been waiting years for the high speed and cost-effective internet to make it to Kenya. But then again, its only a month more to wait, hopefully. However, this delay creates a window of opportunity for the competing and Kenyan Government-backed TEAMS cable, which could now effectively begin operations before the SEACOM cable – giving them first mover advantage in the race to sign-up key customers.
The Author
1 Comment
Hi M.
The following quote “As a result, SEACOM is unable to complete the Asia connection of the cable that will enable it to become operational” may be a little misleading. According to SEACOM the cable has been completed including the section at the troubled waters section.
The issue now is the testing which will take a month. I however think we havent heard the full story about this delay. But we will see when the cable goes live. This is actually the second time SEACOM has announced a delay. This should give TEAMS a good chance to be first mover. PS Bitange Ndemo may have been right afterall.