Broadband network and digital services offered in Seychelles will soon get a boost from a new cable system that will be leased by Seychelles-based telecommunications provider Intelvision Limited with support from global development institution IFC.
IFC’s support to Intelvision, which provides data, internet, and internet-based voice services as well as pay TV, includes an up to $10 million loan from its own account and an additional loan of $10 million mobilized from partners under the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Programme (MCPP).
The funding will enable Intelvision to lease a new cable being built by Vodafone Carrier Services as a branch of the2Africa cable network, one of the largest subsea projects in the world, whose latest branches were in the news.
The new cable will complement the existing Seychelles East Africa System and is expected to lower the cost of connectivity for telecom operators on the islands and increase competition for fixed broadband and mobile data services.
The new cable system will deliver over 600Gbps of international bandwidth to Intelvision, improving connectivity and increasing the speed and capacity of Intelvision’s existing fibre optic and hybrid fibre coaxial networks.
Through the 15-year lease agreement with Vodafone, Intelvision plans to launch mobile telephony services in Seychelles, a country where most consumers access the internet through a mobile phone. The new cable system will also allow Intelvision to eventually expand its terrestrial network by providing 4G and 5G mobile networks to the whole of Mahé and the inner islands.
Seychelles’ economy relies heavily on tourism, which has suffered due to Covid-19-related travel disruption. Seychelles’ government is focused on strengthening the digital economy to support recovery and the next phase of the country’s economic growth.