By Martin Ekpeke

Former Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson has put up an argument that what Africa needs to accelerate broadband penetration across the continent is terrestrial fibre and not undersea cables as being advocated in some quarters.

Johnson, who made her position in a tweet, argues that with a terrestrial fibre, connecting countries, cities, towns and villages, development that can impact on every sphere of human lives will be spread easily.

“What Africa really needs is more terrestrial fibre connecting countries, cities, towns and villages not more undersea cable,” she tweeted via @OmobolaJohnson.

Her tweet was a response to a report by @qzafrica that Google and Facebook are circling Africa with huge undersea cables to get millions online. The report disclosed that Facebook is working on plans for an underwater cable that will circle the continent with landings on multiple coasts. While Google’s underwater cable plans will connect Portugal and South Africa with the first phase due to be completed by 2021.

The report further noted that these cables will have 20 times the capacity of the most recent projects laid in the region and will ultimately improve connectivity and likely make internet costs much cheaper, allowing more Africans to get—and stay—connected.

But, the argument of Johnson, who serve under the Goodluck Jonathan’s led government between 2011-2015, appears to suggest that thereis already a glut of undersea cables of about 9 terabytes bandwidth capacity already laid, yet, the continent is starved of ubiquitous broadband connectivity. What is needed to satisfy the insatiable data need of the citizen is a terrestrial fibre with last mile connectivity.

Presently, most African coastal countries already have a huge deficit of unused capacities from lying Glo-1, WACS, Main One and others at the shore, while the hinterlands crave for more reliable connectivity, giving the impression that laying submarine fibre from Europe to Africa is not the problem.