Last week Telkom, Google and Open Serve launched Equiano, the continent’s highest capacity undersea internet cable. This new cable is fully funded by Google, making it the third private international cable after Dunant and Curie, and its 14th subsea cable investment globally.
Google’s private subsea cables all carry the names of historical luminaries, and Equiano is no different. Named for Olaudah Equiano, a Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist who was enslaved as a boy, the Equiano cable is state-of-the-art infrastructure based on space-division multiplexing (SDM) technology, with approximately 20 times more network capacity than the last cable built to serve this region.
Another important aspect about the cable has a lot to do with Portugal.
The seas of Portugal linked Europe to the rest of the world at one time in history. Now, in a more digital paradigm, we still see Portugal playing a role in connecting the world. It goes without saying that this cable will make a difference on the continent.
Speaking about its impact, the Telkom chief executive, Serame Taukobong, had this to say, “The connectivity that will be unlocked through Equiano will have an immense impact on the ICT sector and the domestic economy overall. The capacity that Equiano offers will make connectivity more accessible and affordable, helping to bridge the digital divide in South Africa. Making connectivity more attainable will also allow small businesses to embrace digital innovation and fully step into the digital economy.”
It also has to be said that the cable project is a key part of Europe’s plan to gain more control over global internet traffic. It comes during a period where there’s a tension about who controls the globe's submarine data cables.
Undersea networks handle the bulk of the world’s data traffic, making them essential for internet services and digital services to run smoothly and reliably. As global data traffic has surged, US tech giants like Google and Facebook (Meta) have invested billions in boosting the capacity and China has made inroads into building up its own networks, too.
As South Africa welcomes the cable, lawmakers need to be aware of the broader meaning of an undersea cable that is funded by private entities. At some point, lawmakers in the European Parliament wanted to impose new cybersecurity requirements on cable operators in an effort to avoid wiretapping and sabotage by other countries.
In Europe, national officials were also looking to take back control of the networks, including by supporting Europe’s only large-scale manufacturer of the technology, Finnish telecoms giant Nokia, which made and laid down the cable.
China is also making advances in developing the technology. Chinese company HMN Tech, which has Huawei among its shareholders, is developing submarine connections linking Europe (via France) to Africa and South Asia through to China.
When China was still in the process of developing, its efforts drew the attention of Western security officials. They were increasingly looking at undersea cables. The Trump administration made cables a part of its Clean Network strategy to ban the use of Chinese technology in critical sectors.
In a joint declaration signed in March, 25 EU countries, plus Iceland and Norway, endorsed a plan to brand cables as critical infrastructure, which requires them to beef up their cyber defences. The countries also pledged to map out how and where data flows in and out of Europe through submarine cables, identify systems that need replacement, and come up with a plan to handle security risks.
As South Africa welcomes undersea cables funded by private entities with US origin these are some of the factors that need consideration.
Africa is entering a very important phase in the development of digital infrastructure. Due to a need there will be a temptation by governments to compromise to address connectivity issues.
In the spirit of Equiano who fought slavery, there will be a need for vigilance to avoid a situation where information highways will be controlled by foreign interests that may take Africa to another form of slavery that may be digital in nature.
This piece of infrastructure will connect Africa to the global internet more robustly than ever, but it will also place an unprecedented level of control in the hands of the US-based tech giant. Google and Meta’s ambitions to build and own global data links mark an important development in how the internet works and who controls it.
Wesley Diphoko is the Editor-In-Chief of Fast Company SA and a technology analyst. He hosts weekly conversations on technology and its impact on society via TwitterSpaces. Follow him via @WesleyDiphoko
BUSINESS REPORT