By Submarine Cable News Feed
Hitachi Cable has announced that it will supply submarine fiber optic cable for a project in Africa. The contract is the first for Hitachi Cable the region.
The company will supply the cable to Tyco Telecommunications, with shipments beginning this summer. By March 2009, Hitachi expects to ship 10,000 kilometers of cable worth five billion yen (US$47.47 million) for the project.
The name of the project was not announced, but Tyco Telecommunications was awarded a contract last year to build the 10,000-kilometer SEACOM cable system.
In a statement, Hitachi Cable noted that the 2010 World Cup will be held in South Africa, and the installation of optical submarine cable is necessary in order for soccer fans in other parts of the world to watch the games live. Cable laid on the Indian Ocean side will link Africa with India and allow feeds to Asia. Cable laid from the southern part of Africa will reach up to the Suez Canal and enable feeds to Europe.
Hitachi said that its sales from optical submarine cable plummeted after the bursting of the information technology bubble, but it now expects brisk orders for projects in such places as Africa and China for the next several years and sees annual sales chugging along at around 10 billion yen. The company also noted that it is well situated to supply submarine cable for projects in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
