SAT-3/WASC/SAFE Parties and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) have completed the fourth upgrade of the SAT-3/WASC undersea cable system, which went live during the first half of 2014. This latest upgrade has doubled the current system capacity, further positioning SAT-3/WASC as a leading submarine cable facility on the Sub-Saharan African coastline.

Operating at 40 gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s) and with full in-system protection, the system offers one of the lowest latency routes from Africa to Europe with connectivity between Europe, West Coast of Africa and Southern Africa with landings in South Africa, Angola, Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Spain and Portugal.

The SAT-3/WASC cable system was upgraded from 420 Gbit/s to 920 Gbit/s in the northern segments, north of Ghana, and from 340 Gbit/s to 800Gbit/s in the southern segments. Overall, this fourth upgrade enables a sevenfold increase in SAT-3/WASC’s original design capacity through the use of Alcatel-Lucent’s advanced coherent technology.

Furthermore, SAFE provides the shortest route and therefore lowest latency between Southern Africa and Asia with connectivity via South Africa, Mauritius, Reunion, India and Malaysia. With sixteen landing points spread between Europe, Africa and Asia, the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cables provide access to global markets and footprint, offering to customers seamless and diverse connectivity to the rest of the world.

Johan Meyer, Management Committee Chairman of SAT-3/WASC/SAFE consortium said: “SAT-3/WASC/SAFE has a proven track record backed by 12 years of operational experience and sound financial stability, allowing for further cable upgrades and optimum network performance, both regionally and globally. The additional capacity available with the fourth upgrade will contribute significantly in meeting the ongoing demand in the markets served by SAT3/WASC/SAFE.”

Philippe Dumont, President of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, said: “Carriers, service providers, multimedia and content providers all are expanding their networks to support Internet and data center applications, while protecting their existing investments.

Alcatel-Lucent’s unique submarine solution delivers ease of upgrade and scalability to multi-terabit capacity, offering a staged migration combining technological and economic benefits. This upgrade allows quicker service turn-up to meet customers’ expectations for anywhere, anytime access to broadband applications, storage and computing.”

About the SAT-3/ WASC/SAFE consortium The SAT-3/WASC/SAFE system is owned and operated by the following telecom operators: Angola Telecom, Belgacom International Carrier Services SA, Benin Telecoms S.A., BT, CAMEROON TELECOMMUNICATIONS, CAT Telecom Public Company Limited, China Telecommunications Corporation, China United Network Communications Group Company Limited, Chunghwa Telecom Limited, Cote d’Ivoire Telecom, Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, Deutsche Telekom AG, Gabon Telecom S.A., Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Itissalat Al Maghrib, Korea Telecom, KPN Royal Dutch Telecom, Mauritius Telecom Ltd, Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd, Orange S.A., PT Comunicaes S.A., Reach Global Networks Limited, Singapore Telecommunications Limited, SONATEL (Socit Nationale des Tlcommunications du Sngal), Sprint Communications Company L.P, Tata Communications Limited, TATA Communications (Bermuda) Limited, Telecom Italia Sparkle S.p.A., Telecom Namibia Limited, Telefonica de Espana S.A.U., Telekom Malaysia Berhad, Telkom SA SOC Limited, Verizon, Vodacom Group Limited, Vodafone.

For more information visit the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE website: www.safe-sat3.co.za

About the Alcatel-Lucent solution The Alcatel-Lucent solution is based on the 1620 Light Manager (LM) submarine line terminal equipment using coherent technology at data speeds of 40 gigabits-per-second, expandable to 100G, to provide the most efficient use of the available optical spectrum.

The 1620 LM incorporates the latest Soft Decision Forward Error Correction (SDFEC) technology. Network resilience to network failures is facilitated by the use of the Alcatel-Lucent 1675 Lambda Unite cross-connect. The upgrade solution will be managed by the Alcatel-Lucent 1350 optical management system.