BRIEFING ON THE UNDERSEA CABLES

1. BRIEFING ON THE UNDERSEA CABLES PRESENTATION TO PARLIAMENT PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS 11 MARCH 2008 CAPE TOWN

2. INTRODUCTION • The DOC was requested to further brief the PCC on undersea cables • This presentation provides a brief overview of all cables known to the DOC intending to land on South African shores • As most of these initiatives are still work-in-progress a lot of the information is confidential and therefore not ready to be publicly revealed • The briefing is also provided whilst there are on-going discussions related to a joint collaboration of UHURUnet and Infraco to cover both initiatives in one cable and eliminate duplication Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

3. THE CABLES IN BRIEF Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

4. …CABLES IN BRIEF Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

5. ORIGINS OF UHURUnet • Decision of the Abuja NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) in 2003, “to prioritise the establishment of a broadband network to ensure that all African countries are connected to one another by a broadband fibre-optic cable network that is, in turn, linked to the rest of the world”. • The Algiers 2004 NEPAD HSGIC decision to “adopt the EASSy and the associated NEPAD broadband access fibre-optic project for land-locked countries as NEPAD Flagship projects.” Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

6. UHURUNET 6 Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

7. DEVELOPMENT OF UHURUNET • The decision to build the NEPAD cable beyond Port Sudan to Europe - studies showed that the cost of moving traffic beyond Sudan would make it difficult to reduce the cost of communications since other and competing cable owners would have to be paid to terminate the traffic. • The decision to accelerate the building of UHURUnet as a circle around the continent - studies by the e-Africa Commission revealed that this configuration would decrease the cost of communications in South Africa and Africa significantly. In addition the additional cost of building the “extended network” cable would be marginal compared to the benefits that this would bring to both the companies and the countries. Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

8. UHURUnet AND THE NEPAD PROTOCOL • The Kigali Protocol has been ratified by 51% of the signatory countries bringing the Protocol to force on 13 February 2008. • The Inter-Governmental Assembly Ministerial meeting of October 2007 in South Africa - O R Tambo Communique and Resolutions extended the Kigali Protocol to all African countries • UHURUnet can provide for very low cost of landing - This is facilitated by the Kigali Protocol in terms of which the cost of landing in countries that are High Contracting Parties to the Protocol through the NEPAD SPV is very small and guaranteed. • The NEPAD SPV will be the largest single shareholder of BAHARICOM - it will be owned ultimately by over 120 African telecommunications and other companies. This will enable the NEPAD SPV to purchase capacity in bulk and pass this saving onto the smaller Telcos Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

9. OWNERSHIP OF UHURUnet NEPAD SPV (30%) AFRICAN TELCOS AND INVESTORS (INCLUDING South African) (45%) INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS (25%) BAHARICOM Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

10. CHARACTERISTICS OF UHURUnet • The NEPAD SPV will be the largest single shareholder of BAHARICOM as it will be owned ultimately by over 120 African telecommunications and other companies. This will enable the NEPAD SPV to purchase capacity in bulk and provide it to the smaller Telcos at prices comparable to those to be offered by the big Telcos. • UHURUnet contributes to the competitiveness of our economy – enabling African operators to be the biggest beneficiaries of the proceeds from African telecommunications traffic. • The NEPAD SPV in UHURUnet will have a strong negotiating power thus enabling it to negotiate favourable deals for landing in countries that are not party to the Protocol both in Africa and abroad. • UHURUnet is seen as a good alternative route for traffic from Asia to Europe and the Americas Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

11. ADVANTAGES OF UHURUnet • The NEPAD SPV in UHURUnet has a strong negotiating power • UHURUnet can provide for very low cost of landing - this can be facilitated by the Kigali Protocol. • The terrestrial NEPAD SPV – UMOJAnet, will provide very low cost terrestrial connectivity across the continent - no interconnect agreements will be required. Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

12. UMOJANET

13. WAY FORWARD At the request of operators to eliminate duplication and keep the advantages of both cables, discussions are underway in government between DOC and DPE led by the Presidency on a joint, government supported cable encompassing both UHURUnet and Infraco. These will be concluded in time to meet the committed operation date of Q1 2010 Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development

14. THANK YOU Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development