Internet Solutions (IS) says that it will be the first Service Provider to utilize the 155Mbps STM1 configuration.
An approach to Telkom SA Ltd. has resulted in the supply of broadband International Private Leased Line Services (IPLC) to IS on Afrolinque, the submarine fibre cable linking South Africa (SA) with Europe and the East. “We are now in a position to offer our clients a faster and more reliable service than before,” says Johann Pretorius, COO of Internet Solutions.
The Afrolinque submarine fibre cable links SA with West Africa and Europe through the SAT3/WASC portions and with the East through the SAFE portion of the cable. The contract for 155Mbps is valued at 270 million Rand (US$39,287,000) over three years.
The bandwidth will be taken up in two stages; currently in use are 2 x 45Mbps to Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively, with the remainder being deployed in April this year, to Johannesburg.
According to Pretorius, the reliability and speed of STM1 over the fibre cable will prove to be invaluable to Internet Solutions’ more than 4,500 corporate customers, many of whom rely heavily on the Internet to transact business.
Wally Beelders, managing executive of Telkom International and Special Markets, states: “Our IPLC product offers a lot of added value. The service is monitored 24 hours a day from our National Network Operations Center in Centurion (South Africa) to ensure optimum performance and quality. We act as a single point of contact, facilitating single-end ordering and billing, taking care of the service from SA to the terminating point, which, in the case of Internet Solutions, is in the USA.”