Madagascar connected to submarine fibre optics cable

14 October 2009

The Madagascar “Lion” submarine cable is operational, as Michel Barré, Director of the France Telecom Group for East Africa, recently announced.

All that now remains is for the legislation to be passed, authorising the cable to be put into action so as to provide high-speed Internet services for its users.

Altogether, this project will cost 100 billion Ariary (49.1 million Dollars) to connect Madagascar to the SAFE submarine cable via Mauritius and Reunion.

The investment has been made by a consortium formed by Orange Madagascar, Mauritius Telecom, and France Telecom SA.

Mr. Barré also announced this week, at the inauguration of the training college for call centre professions, that Phase II of the Lion cable will start next year. This consists of installing the cable via a connection point situated in the north of Madagascar.

Lion II will not be connected to the SAFE cable, but will be supported on the Eassy cable, which offers access to the regions of Asia. The work will take between 18 and 24 months.<br/>