The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System ( EASSy ) is an undersea fibre optic cable system connecting countries in Eastern Africa to the rest of the world.
8-519: EASSy runs from Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan in Sudan , with landing points in nine countries and is connected to at least ten landlocked countries — which will no longer have to rely on satellite Internet access to carry voice and data services. EASSy was the highest capacity system serving sub-Saharan Africa until the commissioning of WACS . It has a 2 fibre-pair configuration with
16-523: A design capacity of more than 10 terabit per second (Tbit/s). It is the first to deliver direct connectivity between east Africa and Europe / North America. It is the only system with built-in resilience end-to-end. EASSy interconnects with multiple international submarine cable networks for onward connectivity to Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia. The project, partially funded by
24-558: The EASSy cable. Mtunzini is a bird watchers paradise and is renowned as one of the few places where one of South Africa's rarest birds of prey, the palm-nut vulture , is found. These birds feed on the fruit of the rafia palm which produces its fruit once every twenty years before dying. Visitors can enjoy a walk through the lush vegetation at the Rafia Palm Monument, which features a raised boardwalk that meanders through to
32-620: The World Bank , was initiated in January 2003, when a handful of companies investigated its feasibility. The cable entered service on 16 July 2010, with commercial service starting on 30 July 2010. The cable landing points are: Mtunzini Mtunzini ( Zulu : eMthunzini , from umthunzi meaning "a place in the shade" ) is a small coastal town that is situated almost exactly halfway along KwaZulu-Natal 's coastline in South Africa approximately 140 km north of Durban . In 2011,
40-550: The magnificent palms. Mtunzini boasts, among other attractions, pristine beaches, a 9-hole golf course at the Mtunzini Country Club, AA-Event and Guest House, numerous bed-and-breakfast establishments as well as a range of camping, caravanning and other self-contained holiday accommodations. The beach is not protected by shark nets due to Mtunzini's proximity to a shark breeding ground populated by Zambezi sharks as well as many others. This fact notwithstanding,
48-628: The mouth of the Umlalazi River. In 2002, Mtunzini became a landing point for the SAFE state of the art Optical fiber Submarine communications cable , linking Melkbosstrand to the West with Saint Paul ( Réunion ), Baie Jacotet ( Mauritius ), Cochin ( India ) and Penang ( Malaysia ). In 2009, Mtunzini became a landing point for the SEACOM cable, and in 2010 Mtunzini became the landing point for
56-629: The town's population was 2,199. The name is a word in the Zulu language meaning place in the shade. After the breakup of the Zulu Kingdom after the Anglo-Zulu War , Sir Garnet Wolseley created 13 'kinglets' - with two strategically located as buffer zones between Port Natal and Zululand . One of these kinglets was John Dunn who used Mtunzini as his capital. In 1948, 9 square kilometres of dune forests, lakes and lagoon at Mtunzini
64-608: Was proclaimed a nature reserve known as the Umlalazi Nature Reserve . This area falls under the protection of the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (previously known as Natal Parks Board). The Umlalazi Lagoon is a popular tourist attraction for watersports enthusiasts and fishermen alike. Recreational and commercial ski-boat fishermen also launch their boats in the lagoon to head for the Indian Ocean via
#743256