Broadband Arrives in Africa

It is unimaginable to many people outside Africa that the eastern coast of the world's second largest continent was the sole area with no undersea communications cable. Thankfully, this distinctive measure of underdevelopment is now coming to and end through the development of a number of undersea links to the eastern coast of Africa. Bearing names such as The East African Marine System (TEAMs), the East African Submarine System (EASSY), Seacom and others, the world is finally fully connected.

Cat Contiguglia of NYT covers the amazing series of infrastructure development for Africa and traces some of the expected effects on business and other measures of human developments. Clearly, the west African coast was long connected by cable but this has not had as much effect as the is now expected.

That African citizens have relied on slow satellite communication for so long when the better alternative was available is a story about the national monopolies that did little but bar competition and better service. It is essential to note that the diverse set of investments imply that there will be a degree of competition which will lead to a reduction in prices for communications generally. In spite of the enthusiasm for the new dispensation, I wonder where the extra capacity in large bandwidth will be applied.

It is clear that there may be scope for developing call centers but the worldwide competition in this service is already high and the premium has been largely harvested by India and other English-speaking Asian countries. I fear that in this business, Africa generally may have come to the table too late as usual. My cynicism notwithstanding, the mere drop in costs of telecommunications will lead to innovations and costs savings all around. My own bet is that it will not necessarily be in the call centres. As the main story states, there are businesses that will probably rue the arrival of the Undersea cable. let's see creative destruction at work too. I will be watching as new businesses develop but also as others are rendered obsolete.