The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System has announced that construction of the fibre-optic cable system connecting 21 African countries will start on 14 March. Participants in the Eassy project agreed in January at a meeting in Tanzania the final financing details and the full project funds of USD 248 million are now in place and fully committed. The Eassy system will run 10,500 kilometres from the continent's southern tip to the horn, connecting South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoro, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. Another 13 landlocked countries will also be linked to the system via terrestrial backbone networks. These include Botswana, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Congo DRC, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Eassy project will be ready for commercial service at the end of next year. The project has been repeatedly delayed since it was first mooted in 2003. The main issue of concern was ownership, which has been resolved with the registration of a holding firm, West Indian Cable Company, in Mauritius.
