Five alive: eFive inks SubCom contract to reignite dormant cable plans

South Africa-based eFive Telecoms has awarded TE SubCom the supply contract for its undersea cable system, the South Atlantic Express (SAEx). The two-fibre pair, 9,900km cable system will link South Africa and Brazil, in turn providing access to North America and Asia. En route to Fortaleza in Brazil, SAEx will connect to the South African cities of Mtunzini, East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. There will also be a branching unit to enable further connectivity to west Africa and an ‘unrepeatered spur’ to St Helena, a British Overseas Territory situated in the South Atlantic Ocean. eFive CEO Dr Ros Thomas commented: ‘SAEx will provide the most direct routing and lowest latency from South Africa to the Americas as well as high speed communications between east and west, placing South Africa at the hub of this network, whilst enhancing the connectivity and reliability of the global submarine cable network’.