BY TE SubCom

Main One Cable Company and its system supplier, Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications (SubCom), announce the on schedule completion of the main lay program by the C.S. Tyco Resolute. Installation of terminal equipment is complete in Seixal, Portugal and underway at the system’s landing sites in Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana. The system is expected to be ready for service in June 2010.

Phase 1 of the Main One Cable System spans 6,800 kilometers and will provide much needed capacity between the West Coast of Africa and Portugal. The dual fiber pair, 1.92 Terabit per second, Dense Wave Division Multiplex project will first connect Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghanaand Seixal, Portugal with onward connectivity to Europe, Asia and the Americas. Phase 2 of the project is expected to extend to South Africa.

The Main One Cable System will provide open access to regional telecom operators and Internet Service Providers at rates lower than existing international bandwidth prices in the region. The system will provide broadband capacity to expand Internet access in the sub-Saharan region, as well as ease the difficulties of switching traffic between African countries without the need to go through Europe.

“We are thrilled to say that the challenge of completing the marine work for the Main One Cable System is behind us and that we will soon be able to concentrate on the critical mission of providing high-capacity bandwidth to regions of the globe where it is long overdue,” said Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable Company. “Together with SubCom, we have met our goals on schedule and we eagerly look towards delivering capacity to our customers and executing plans for expansion of the network.”

“Since the launch of our alliance in 2008, SubCom has looked forward to completing the Phase 1 marine installation. Completion of the marine program brings us very close to making the Main One Cable System a reality,” said David Coughlan, president of SubCom. “We consider the work we have done on Main One to be a significant accomplishment and are proud to be associated with this project.”

About Main One

Main One Cable Company Limited (‘Main One’) is the first submarine cable company offering open access, wholesale broadband capacity in West Africa. Main One is wholly African-owned with a vision to expand the much needed capacity on the African continent and reduce costs of broadband communications across the Continent. This vision is being realized in a 1.92 Tbps and 7000km submarine cable system scheduled for service in June 2010 with initial landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal – connecting West Africa to the rest of the world via Portugal and the United Kingdom.

Main One has leveraged experienced and proven world-class professionals in ensuring we get it right first time round and do so on time. We have built a state-of-the-art Network Operations Centre matching the best international standards and comparable to its global counterparts. We also have a strong management and technical team in place to ensure system reliability and constant availability backed by Service Level Agreements. Our systems are monitored 24 x 7 x 365 – every hour, every day, all year round to guarantee our customers minimum down time in service delivery.

For more information visit www.mainonecable.com.

About TE SubCom

Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications (SubCom) is an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology and marine services and a leading global supplier for today’s undersea communications requirements.  Drawing on its heritage of technical innovation and industry recognized performance, the company delivers the most reliable, high quality solutions to organizations with undersea communications needs vital to their core mission.  In more than five decades of operation, SubCom has designed, manufactured, and installed more than 100 undersea fiber optic systems around the world.  SubCom’s global presence, backed by industry leading research and development laboratories, manufacturing facilities, installation and maintenance ships, depots, and management team work together to implement integrated solutions and network upgrades, with unsurpassed reliability, that support the needs of telecommunications, internet providers, offshore and science customers worldwide.

For more information visit www.SubCom.com.