Why it issues: Google already has a major presence in Africa, however this new undersea cable will prolong its affect on the continent, notably in Kenya the place engineers will anchor the cable. Alphabet has invested considerably in bettering connectivity infrastructure worldwide to broaden its footprint. Rising markets maintain nice potential. Google estimates that in Africa alone, 300 million folks will come on-line over the subsequent 5 years.
Looking for to develop its already important presence in Africa, Google has introduced it’s constructing the first-ever fiber optic path to connect Africa with Australia. The “Umoja cable route” will anchor in Kenya, cross by Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, after which cross the Indian Ocean to achieve Australia.
Google collaborated with Liquid Clever Applied sciences to chart probably the most scalable route throughout the continent, together with entry factors that give different international locations entry to the community and allow them to extra reliably join with one another and the remainder of the world.
“Africa’s main cities together with Nairobi, Kampala, Kigali, Lubumbashi, Lusaka, and Harare will now not be hard-to-reach endpoints distant from the coastal touchdown websites that join Africa to the world,” mentioned Try Masiyiwa, Chairman and founding father of Liquid Clever Applied sciences. “They’re now stations on a knowledge superhighway that may carry hundreds of instances extra visitors than presently reaches right here.”
The terrestrial a part of the venture is already complete. Now, the toughest a part of the work begins as engineers channel the cable throughout the Indian Ocean to Perth, Australia. It is a complicated activity, so there isn’t a confirmed timeline for completion.
Moreover, Google plans to collaborate with the Kenyan authorities on cybersecurity, data-driven innovation, digital upskilling, and deploying AI for societal advantages. For instance, the Division of Immigration & Citizen Companies is already evaluating Google Cloud’s CyberShield answer for its eCitizen platform.
Google has been increasing its presence on the African continent since 2007, when it opened its first Sub-Saharan Africa workplace in Nairobi. It then went on to companion with governments from international locations throughout Africa on quite a few digital initiatives. In 2021, it dedicated to infuse $1 billion in Africa over 5 years in a number of areas, together with improved connectivity and startup funding. Since then, it has invested greater than $900 million within the area and expects to meet its dedication by 2026.
The search big has additionally invested significantly in different cabling initiatives, together with Equiano, a brand new non-public subsea cable that may connect Portugal and South Africa, which it introduced in 2019. Equiano begins in Western Europe and runs alongside the West Coast of Africa, between Portugal and South Africa, with branching models used to increase connectivity to further African international locations. Equiano was Google’s third non-public worldwide cable, after Dunant and Curie, and its 14th subsea cable funding.
