Pan-African telecommunications operator Liquid Telecom has established a satellite hub at Teraco’s vendor-neutral satellite earth station in South Africa in a project worth several million dollars.
The company says the hub will allow it to keep telecoms traffic originating in Africa on the continent, rather than backhauling it via Europe as many operators do, thereby reducing latency (network roundtrip times) and increasing connection speeds.
Liquid operates a 17 000km fibre network between Uganda and Cape Town. The expansion of its satellite business allows it to offer broadband services in areas where fibre is not commercial viable or practical, the company says in a statement.
Liquid Telecom CEO Nic Rudnick says Teraco’s facility in South Africa is the most connected point in the region, hence the decision to locate the satellite hub there.
The company’s customers include wireless and fixed-line carriers, Internet service providers and large corporate businesses including banks. — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media