311: East Africa gets connected

Long-awaited good news for the East African region today, as reported in the UK's Guardian newspaper. Apparently, the region is one of the world's last remaining coastlines to be connected to the global fibre-optic cable network. As a result, existing internet connections are prohibitively high for most people and too slow for institutions such as universities to function optimally. But that will change. This October, the Seacom cable - 9300 miles long, owned by mostly African investors and costing more than $600m - will begin to roll out. Next year will see the completion of the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), a thinner cable that will connect 21 countries in East Africa to each other - and to the rest of the world. The result will be much faster and cheaper connectivity, giving a tremendous boost to commerce and the exchange of knowledge across the region. Indeed, it seems as if many people and businesses, in Kenya, Rwanda and elsewhere, are desperate for greater connectivity... They won't have to wait much longer.