South Africa has taken a step nearer to high speed broadband access after parts of the Seacom deepwater fibre-optics cable, which will connect the country to parts of Europe and India, were placed on the sea floor.

“The cable has been laid from the edge of the South African waters to Mozambique, and cable laying is also proceeding in the Red Sea from Egypt towards the coast of Yemen,” reported Seacom in a statement.

Another ship is currently being loaded with the remainder of the deepwater cable, which will be placed on the sea floor from India towards Africa, where all three parts of the cable will be joined.

Seacom said it is preparing to provide services to customers by June this year, and has already recruited local telecoms professionals from India, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania, to operate and maintain various cable stations.

The Seacom cable is due to become operational by June 2009.