Third undersea cable system to connect Mauritius to Africa and rest of the world

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This $150m cable project will allow Mauritius to have a third independent undersea cable connectivity to Africa and the rest of the world and in turn reinforce Mauritius, as an emerging innovation giant in sub-Saharan Africa.

The IOX cable system will be the first open access cable system in the region and offer the opportunity for any licensed operators to benefit from the latest technology and seamless access, throughout the life cycle of the cable system. The IOX undersea cable system design will also allow it to connect to existing and future undersea cable projects off the East coast of Africa.

This third undersea cable initiative will also act as a hotbed, to accelerate the development of technology-enabled business and innovation. It will permit the African and Indian business community to connect seamlessly, by leveraging on fast and reliable digital infrastructure, ranging from undersea cable to data centers and cloud platforms. Furthermore, this will significantly enhance and improve the development of the broadband infrastructure in Mauritius to support and drive new economic models centered around the new digital economy.

The cable is expected to be ready for commercial service by the first quarter of 2019.