Seychelles now connected by fiber optic underwater cable from Tanzania

(eTN) – The landing of the fiber optic submarine cable to Seychelles from Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam was launched on Saturday afternoon with a laying of the first inch of the long cabl

(eTN) – The landing of the fiber optic submarine cable to Seychelles from Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam was launched on Saturday afternoon with a laying of the first inch of the long cable to the Seychelles capital of Victoria.

A brief ceremony to lay the first inch of the almost 2,000-kilometer-long cable that will run underwater to connect the two countries was organized in Dar es Salaam in the presence of the Seychelles Minister for Natural Resources and Industry, Peter Sinon, and the Island’s Honorary Consul to Tanzania Ms. Maryvonne Pool.

Along with Minister Sinon, Seychellois journalists and other dignitaries witnessed the event, which signified the launching of the first fiber optic submarine cable to their country and which will connect the people of Seychelles to the rest of the world through this modern telecommunication technology.

The Alcatel Submarine Ship (ASN) docked in Dar es Salaam last Friday for the submarine optic fiber system project under the coordination and management of the Seychelles East Africa System (SEAS) linked to the EASSy fiber optic cable already on the coast of the African continent.

SEAS has been built by Seychelles Cable Systems Limited through funding from Seychelles government, Cable and Wireless (Seychelles), and the mobile phone company, Airtel.

Ms. Maryvonne Pool who is also the island’s Tourism Ambassador to Tanzania said SEAS is also the very first fiber optic submarine cable to link Seychelles to the rest of the world and is very much a historic and development milestone for this island state.

SEAS project is a good example of regional integration and private sector partnership as it involves entities from East African countries and also involves the use of regionally-deployed telecom infrastructure and EASSy, which is a regional African project.

The project will as well be vital in cementing Tanzania and Seychelles relations through various areas of business, social and economic sectors, mostly travel and tourism.

Both Tanzania and Seychelles are members of the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern African (RETOSA) and is in need of a quick and effective communication that will speed up connection among tourists and other travelers between these friendly nations, while attracting more business stakeholders from each country through high-tech communication.

Tanzania and the Seychelles are members of the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP). www.tourismpartners.org

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Linda Hohnholz

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