Now i am excited about this. Seacom has launched an African Internet Protocal (IP) network that will allow traffic exchange from Africa done within the continent. The IP platform will allow direct routing between African countries through single seamless network. Ok, first i hope you knew that when you are communicating to your next door neighbor through chat or phone calls , the traffic has to be routed to Europe before being returned back to your neighbor. That is a half a world away for something being delivered just a few kilometers away ….
Despite our good neighborly nature, most African countries have not been able to communicate with each other directly without going through Europe. This has been the case even before the internet came into the picture.
Thanks to Seacome Ladies and Gentlemen brace yourselves for some good times ahead. This development will definitely improve the internet speed due to the use of shorter routes..don’t we love the shortcuts!
According to Seacom the platform’s six IP network nodes are already live in Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Maputo, Marseille, and Mtunzini. Excellent. Starting with our Tanzania brothers, we can now exchange our ideas without someone in Europe listening. True Independence heh!
Come to think about it, exchanges within the continent are needed for many things including the trades, airlines etc. As much as the world is now a connected village, a number of recent events clearly showed how dangerous it is to rely on other countries for some crucial things. The Wikileaks saga was the clearest example how even the mighty democracies like US might just one day decide to kill the internet if they don’t like what someone is saying. When that time comes African should continue communicating and telling their beautiful stories.