[kictanet] SAT3 to get a competitor – Infinity set to finalise $865 million financing

[Eric Osiakwan]

SAT3 to get a competitor – Infinity set to finalise $865 million  
financing
In the coming week the Infinity Worldwide Telecom Group of  Companies  
(IWTGC) looks set to finalise the funding of its first phase build  
for its international fibre route from Portugal to South Africa along  
the west coast of the continent. Once built, it will be the first  
independently operated competitor for the incumbent monopoly- 
controlled SAT3 cable. Russell Southwood looks at what’s involved.

A West African bank, a leading institutional investment advisor and  
European institutional investment advisors are all in the final  
stages of agreeing an investment package that will come up with the  
funding for the first stage of the Infinity project. Once agreed,  
work will start 45-60 days after funding package has been inked.

Phase one of the project is estimated to cost US $865 million, of  
which US$750 million is earmarked for capital Expenditure and the  
remainder for working capital. This includes funding for sub-sea  
cable; marine; wet and dry plant; cable stations; licenses; backhaul;  
and central city PoPs. Tyco International has been chosen as the  
System Supplier and Infinity and Tyco are ready to execute an ITP  
that will commit to the marine survey, manufacturing slot, and  
overall system schedule.  Desk Top and Marine Surveys are set to  
commence in Q2 2008 and the RFS date (commercial operation) for Phase  
one is planned for Q4 2010.

In phase one of the project Infinity will construct a 14,000  
kilometre international fiber route along the western coast of  
continent with direct links into Southern Europe and South Africa.  
The network will run from Lisbon, Portugal to Cape Town, South Africa  
with branching units to land in the Sub Saharan coastal countries of  
Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Angola.

Phase 2 will see Infinity land the cable in additional planned  
countries in the region including: Canary Islands, Mauritania,  
Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire,  
Togo, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome, Gabon, Congo, DRC, and  
Namibia. Inland routes will also be explored to link in Niger, Mali,  
and Burkina Faso.

Significantly Infinity already has an MOU with VSNL (owners of  
Neotel) for engineering and design support; use of its global  
infrastructure; network services; and operational support. VSNL’s  
International Global Network spans across 4 continents and comprises  
major ownership of 206,356km of terrestrial network fibre and sub-sea  
cable.

Infinity has three other projects racing it to completion (in likely  
order of arrival): Globacom’s Glo cable which has already reached  
Dakar, the Infraco/NEPAD Uhurunet project and Mainstreet  
Technologies’ One project. All cover broadly similar ground.

South Africa’s National Treasury declined funding for Infraco’s west  
coast fibre project (variously described as landing in Fortaleza and  
Portugal) on concerns about the lack of private sector involvement  
and as a result, it is in the process of combining forces with  
NEPAD’s Uhurunet project which will be partly financed by India’s  
Bharti. Infraco will hold a stakeholders’ meeting on 15 April.

Globacom has been extremely secretive about what it is planning to do  
with its cable and despite having announced that it will land in a  
long list of West African countries, there is little sign on the  
ground in several of these countries that licence applications have  
been made.


Eric M.K Osiakwan
Executive Secretary
AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031
Fax: + 233.21.258811
Cell: + 233.244.386792
Handle: eosiakwan
Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
Slang: "Tomorrow Now"




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