Etisalat to help enhance Africa's intercontinental connectivity

Etisalat, the UAE's first telecom operator, will enhance its participation in intercontinental connectivity in Africa to tap the full potential of the market, according to a top official. Ali Amiri, Executive Vice-President for etisalat's Carrier and Wholesale Services, yesterday presented the Middle East operator's vision for the future of Africa's intercontinental connectivity. Amiri was addressing a conference of the international operator panel at the International Telecoms Week (ITW), in which he outlined the revolution in internet connectivity that new undersea cable systems will provide to the continent. "For too many years Africa, and particularly East Africa, relied on limited broadband access through costly satellite capacity. The continent is about to witness a seismic shift in bandwidth, thanks to three major undersea cable systems that will link East Africa to the rest of the world," Amiri said. "Etisalat is participating in Teams [The East African Marine System] – a cable system that will connect Kenya and surrounding countries to etisalat's global internet hub providing onward access to Europe, Asia and North America – as well as Eassy [the East African Submarine Cable System]." The ability to provide lower cost, high-speed bandwidth, coupled with mobile broadband services will allow East Africa to begin to close the gap in the digital divide. Etisalat is playing a major role in providing broadband services on a national level through its subsidiaries, and through its investment in international connectivity and submarine cable systems."We are delighted to help catalyse economic development in Africa through our subsidiaries and network," Amiri said. More than 3,500 delegates from nearly 1,000 global operators are participating in the ITW 2009 meeting. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the daily Emirates Business 24|7 newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .