Suburban Telecom, a subsidiary of Suburban West Africa has completed the deployment of the first inland fiber optic cable network in West Africa that connects Nigeria to its Francophone neighbors, the Republic of Benin, Togo as well as Ghana.  This network is the first of its kind in West Africa.  Prior to the deployment of this network the only options available to connect these West African countries was by fiber over the SAT-3 submarine cable network and by satellite technology.  However, the SAT-3 submarine cable network does not have a landing station in Togo while satellite technology does not offer the same benefits as fiber optic technology. With the completion of this network deployment, the largest users of bandwidth services across West Africa now have full network redundancy over fiber as an option between the region’s largest markets.

Group Chief Executive Officer of Suburban West Africa, Mr. Bruce Ayonote stated in a press briefing last month that “There will be a significant impact on this market due to the deployment of this network; this will not only lead to a reduction in bandwidth costs but also a further reduction in voice tariffs as well.  Similar to MTN, a lot of Africa’s largest mobile operators have networks in multiple West African countries and can benefit from the connection that such a network provides.  Regional financial institutions and multinationals can also leverage this same infrastructure to connect their branch networks for improved data services.  "This network has also connected the incumbent carriers between all the countries back to Nigerian networks for higher quality voice and data exchange.”