Paratus Group, the pan-African telecommunications’ company, has completed its East-West Africa fibre route, offering a fast and resilient link to anywhere in the world from anywhere in the southern African region. 

The Paratus East-West route, the first coast-to-coast terrestrial route using Paratus-built fibre infrastructure, offers an alternative terrestrial route, the current demand for which has been precipitated and expedited by recent and frequent network outages.  

“This sea-change in imperatives has arisen due to breakages in certain subsea cable systems. Operators need a more reliable route and, with our new East-West route, by connecting to the Equiano subsea cable, we can assure customers a fast and robust alternative. Our East-West fibre route isn’t just a line on a map — it’s Africa’s digital lifeline,” said Paratus Group CEO Schalk Erasmus. 

The new state-of-the-art terrestrial fibre network extends from the east coast of Africa in Maputo, through Johannesburg and across Botswana and Namibia, to the west coast of Africa at the Cable Landing Station in Swakopmund. 

Paratus is the landing partner for the Equiano Subsea Cable in Swakopmund. 

This strategic East-West route bolsters the Paratus regional network infrastructure, and provides unmatched reliability and low-latency connectivity across southern Africa.

Paratus Group chief commercial officer Martin Cox said the new fibre East-West route uniquely combines local expertise with global reach. 

“As a steadfast partner with pan-African expertise, we offer unequalled wholesale capacity solutions for network operators. Because we understand the unique connectivity needs of the various regions, we have tailored our solutions to specific requirements. We offer carriers and operators not only a diverse East-West route, but also onward transmission to Europe.

“Recent undersea cable cuts have shown the importance of robust alternatives and why we’ve built redundancy into every kilometre, ensuring Southern Africa stays connected – no matter what. This isn’t just about backup. It’s about uninterrupted operations and seamless communications. With Paratus, you’re partnering with innovators who are weaving resilience into Africa’s digital landscape,” he outlined.  

The Paratus Group has made significant investments in its extensive and diverse fibre network. 

Earlier this year, Paratus completed a 1 890km fibre route from Johannesburg, through Botswana, to Swakopmund. 

This Botswana Kalahari Fibre (BKF) spans across Botswana into Namibia, connecting to the Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Swakopmund and the Paratus-landed Equiano subsea cable, which extends from Namibia to Lisbon, London and the rest of Europe.

Connecting to the East-West fibre route, Paratus stated that it operates the fastest fibre express route from southern Africa to Europe via the Equiano subsea cable. 

“Using Infinera FlexILS and GX Series DWDM equipment, latency on the new route is just 123 milliseconds, and can support wavelengths of up to 800Gb. The Paratus express route gives network operators the opportunity to elevate their capacity and redundancy to provide resilience and high-speed performance as standard, and to guarantee smooth data flow and minimal service interruption,” the company stated.