Less than one year after the inauguration of the LION submarine cable (Lower Indian Ocean Network) linking Madagascar to the rest of the world via Réunion Island and Mauritius, an agreement was reached to build a 3,000-km extension to Kenya via the island of Mayotte. The project is being conducted by a consortium of France Telecom-Orange and its subsidiaries Mauritius Telecom Ltd, Orange Madagascar and Telkom Kenya Ltd, along with carrier companies Emtel Ltd., Société Réunionnaise du Radiotéléphone and STOI Internet.
Mayotte is an overseas collectivity of France with a population of about 195,000. The cable will give the island and its neighbors broadband access to the Internet for the first time.
The construction is expected to cost EUR 56.5 million euros, about EUR 31.25 million which will come from France Telecom SA. Service is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2012.
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