News
2013
April 2013
WIOCC expansion in Africa
Africa's carriers' carrier WIOCC is further strengthening its presence in Africa by bringing in three experienced senior telecoms industry professionals: Darren Bedford, from PCCW (formely Gateway Communicaions);Martin Mutiiria, from Nokia Siemens Networks; and Jason Tutty from Reliance Globalcom.
2012
November 2012
WIOCC wins Best Pan-African Initiative Award at Africa Com 2012
Africa’s carriers’ carrier WIOCC won the Best Pan-African Initiative Award at Africa Com 2012, for building an unrivalled, high-capacity network that seamlessly integrates more than 50,000km of African terrestrial fibre with 40,000km of international submarine cable - giving carriers diversity-rich, high-speed international connectivity to and from over 400 locations in 30 African countries.
October 2012
WIOCC CEO named one of the 100 most powerful people in global telecommunications
In the 5th annual GTB Power 100 listing, Global Telecoms Business magazine ranked WIOCC CEO Chris Wood at number 79 – making him one of only four executives from African businesses to appear in this list of the 100 most powerful people in the global telecommunications industry.
July 2012
Improved international connectivity from WIOCC reduces bandwidth prices in Lesotho by 67%
Businesses, institutions and consumers in Lesotho are set to experience faster, reliable and significantly more affordable internet connectivity as Africa’s carriers’ carrier WIOCC brings additional broadband capacity into Lesotho.
2011
December 2011
WIOCC and Cable&Wireless Worldwide partner to enhance network connectivity in and out of Africa
Africa’s carriers’ carrier WIOCC has entered into a strategic partnership with Cable&Wireless Worldwide, a global mission critical communications provider, to improve the reliability, performance and reach of international connectivity in and out of Africa. This initiative will enable WIOCC to provide the first truly seamless low-latency network from Africa to Europe and reinforces its position as the carriers’ choice for high-bandwidth, low-latency, EASSy capacity.
September 2011
WIOCC CEO named as one of the 100 most powerful people in global telecommunications
Chris Wood, CEO of Africa’s carriers’ carrier WIOCC (www.wiocc.net), was yesterday (28-09-11) named as one of the 100 most powerful people in the global telecommunications industry.
Global Telecoms Business magazine has ranked WIOCC’s Chris Wood 46th in its 4th annual Power 100 list – a listing of the 100 most powerful people in the global telecommunications industry. The list is compiled each year from nominations by worldwide readers of the magazine – including CEOs, CFOs and other senior executives of the world’s major operators, telecom vendors and industry organisations.
June 2011
WIOCC’s COO in the 40 Under 40
It has been announced today that WIOCC’s COO, Ryan Sher, has been chosen as one of Global Telecoms Business (GTB)’s 40 Under 40. Each year one of the most prestigious industry publications – Global Telecoms Business – conducts a survey and researches the leaders of our industry aged under 40 years. Ryan has been named in this list as a result of his leadership role in developing the business of WIOCC.
May 2011
WIOCC Partners with Global Crossing to Expand Global Footprint
WIOCC has announced the interconnection of its network with that of Global Crossing, a leading global IP solutions provider, in order to meet the rapid growth in demand for cost-effective, high-quality, end-to-end connectivity between Africa and the rest of the world. "This strategic relationship with Global Crossing, with its comprehensive global network reach, significantly improves our ability to deliver end-to-end service to WIOCC customers in Africa and the rest of the world,” said WIOCC CEO Chris Wood.
2010
December 2010
WIOCC-EASSy fibre to be upgraded
Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC and Co-Chair of the EASSy Management Committee, announced on behalf of the EASSy submarine fibre-optic cable Management Committee that the EASSy system will be upgraded in 2011, more than doubling the current available capacity on the system.
July 2010
WIOCC-EASSy fibre cable goes live
The WIOCC-EASSy fibre optic cable went live on July 16th, marking the final completion of a very successful construction program which started in Maputo, Mozambique in December 2009. All the EASSy landing stations have been completed, tested and are fully operational. CEO of WIOCC, Chris Wood, said "EASSy will be the first east coast system to connect on a direct route to Europe, making it the lowest latency system for traffic to key internet peering points in Europe and North America". EASSy will add to the diversity of cable systems and increase competition for sub-sea connectivity in the region and bring much needed resilience to the networks of the region´s telecoms operators.
April 2010
EASSy construction completed ahead of schedule
The construction of the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) was completed on Monday 19th April, a few days ahead of schedule, marking a milestone toward the launch of the cable in June. The joining of the two segments making up WIOCC's EASSy network was completed on the Ile de Batz in the Indian Ocean just off the east African coast at 0040 local time.
April 2010
EASSy link to Tanzania now complete
Installation of the EASSy cable is rapidly approaching completion. The cable landed at Dar es Salaam on April 7th; more than 9,700km of the cable lay is now installed, and testing will start later this month.
March 2010
Kenya and the Comores connected to EASSy
Over 9,230km of the EASSy submarine cable have been installed as of 30th March 2010. The Northern ship - the Ile de Sein - landed in Port Sudan on 29th Jan 2010, in Djibouti on 13th Feb 2010 and Mombasa, Kenya on 22nd March 2010. The Southern ship - the Ile de Batz - landed at Mtunzini, South Africa on 15th Feb 2010, at Maputo, Mozambique on 24th Feb 2010, at Toliary, Madagascar on 12th March 2010 and at Moroni, the Comores on 27th March 2010. The cable is expected to arrive at Dar es Salaam landing station during the first week of April, and the joining of the two ends of the cable – the final splice – will take place later in the month.
March 2010
EASSy cable lay more than 50% complete
As of March 14th, over 6,500km (nearly two-thirds) of the EASSy cable had been successfully deployed into the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The cable has now reached Toliary in Madagascar, where the shore-end is being laid. The two cable laying ships are heading for Mombasa and Moroni (in the Comores), where they are scheduled to arrive before the end of March.
The East African Submarine System (EASSy) will join Seacom in providing connectivity to countries in East Africa when it goes live in July.
February 2010
Over 900km of the EASSy cable has now been laid
Over 900km of the EASSy cable has now been laid (7th February).The Ile de Sein is continuing cable laying southbound from Port Sudan towards the Djibouti landing station, where it is expected to arrive on 12th Feb 2010.
The Ile de Batz is in transit to Durban, South Africa, where its arrival is imminent. Once there, preparations will start for the northbound cable lay from Mtunzini, South Africa.
January 2010
The EASSy cable has arrived at Port Sudan, and is now being connected into the landing station there.
The cable laying ship Ile de Sein will continue to lay the cable towards Djibouti, where the cable will land in mid-February. The northbound cable lay will also start shortly from Mtunzini in South Africa.
2009
The first section of the EASSy system is laid in Maputo Bay, Mozambique marking a major milestone in the system's construction
Manufacture of the entire northern section of the EASSy cable and submarine equipment is now complete.
Loading of the cable onto a freighter has started.
The first section of EASSy cable arrived in Maputo, Mozambique and was unloaded on August 11th. Laying of the Maputo shore-end will start next month.
The EASSy marine survey is now complete and cable manufacture is well underway.
WIOCC recently participated in the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) 10th anniversary exhibition celebrating 10 years of service to the public in licensing and regulation of the country’s telecommunications industry.
The first section of EASSy cable has been loaded for transport to Mozambique. Once it arrives, it will be installed from the shore at Maputo.
WIOCC at East Africa Com, Nairobi, Kenya.
Chris Wood, WIOCC CEO, attended the conference and was able to meet and discuss with the various stakeholders on the future of telecommunications in East Africa.
Ryan Sher is appointed CTO
Ryan has joined WIOCC from Reliance GlobalCom, where his most recent role was Group Director, Partner and Service Integration. Ryan brings extensive experience in taking new services to market, building partnerships to extend network reach and delivering complex projects across multiple geographies and organisations. As CTO, he holds responsibility for technical relationships within the EASSy consortium as Chairman of the Technical Working Group and Vice Chairman of the Procurement Group. Ryan is also responsible for developing and managing products, systems, processes, customer support and network-to-network interfaces with other carriers..
Government of Seychelles joins WIOCC as a shareholder
The Government of the Seychelles has invested in WIOCC, joining as a shareholder.
Survey work is progressing rapidly
One-third of the submarine survey is now complete and terrestrial surveys have been completed in Mtunzini, South Africa; Maputo, Mozambique and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Other landing station locations will follow during March. All survey work is scheduled for completion by end-July 2009.
Manufacture of the EASSy cable is starting!
Manufacturing of the cable and other submarine components has started and will continue throughout the rest of the year.
2008
Detailed marine survey work of the EASSy cable route has started
Surveying of the seabed will be undertaken along the entire 10,000km submerged route. This work will enable planners to determine in detail an optimal route for deployment of the submerged components of the cable - ensuring that cable laying avoids potential hazards such as earthquake zones, heavy shipping areas and rocky surfaces, all of which can damage submarine cables.
Chris Wood is appointed WIOCC CEO
Chris brings to the role over 15 years experience in the communications industry, an outstanding pedigree in developing business over submarine cable systems and a deep understanding of the needs of international service providers. As well as leading the company’s soon-to-be-announced executive team, Chris’s responsibilities will include driving the company through its start-up phase into full operations, delivering the strategy and the managing the business plan.
