The internet is set to become faster and cheaper in South Africa after the latest undersea cable landed in South Africa.

The Equiano Subsea Cable – which runs from Melkbosstrand up the West Coast, connects the continent directly to Europe and means super high-speed internet connections.

Openserve, Telkom and Google celebrated the cable landing at the Zeitz Mocaa museum.

It is the first sub-sea cable to incorporate optical switching at the fibre-pair level – which is about 20 times the capacity of the last cable built to serve the region.

In essence, it is great news for locals working in gaming and App development, and small businesses who have never before had access to markets, as South Africa will now be on par with Hong Kong in terms of internet speed.

The cable will transmit data of up to 144 terabytes per second.

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Country director for Google South Africa, Dr Alistair Mokoena says it’s about giving everyone Internet access, which will create jobs, and in turn, grow the economy.

Google is committed to helping drive digital transformation in Africa and the Equiano Cable is a major part of that commitment. The cable will not only improve internet speeds and affordability but will help to support the growth of the digital economy in Africa. In South Africa, we anticipate that it will indirectly contribute to the creation of 180 000 jobs and increase GDP up to $7bn by 2025.

While Google is investing in the Equiano undersea cable alongside various partners and carriers, the tech company has partnered with Openserve to bring the South Africa landing to life.

Through this partnership, Openserve will be able to use and benefit from the cable’s additional capacity.

Ultimately, ISPs will be able to provide lower retail prices and the end-user will enjoy seamless connectivity, lower latency and faster internet speeds.