The Seacom undersea fibre optic cable went live today, boosting internet connectivity for East and Southern Africa and marking a new future for Africa’s telecoms and internet industries.

“Today is a historic day for Africa, and marks the dawn of a new era for communications between the continent and the rest of the world,” said Seacom CEO Brian Herlihy.

“Our tireless efforts of the past 24 months have come to fruition, and we are proud to be the first to provide affordable, high quality broadband capacity and experience to east African economies,” added Herlihy.

The 17,000 km cable offers broadband speeds of up to 1.28 terabits per second, which is fast enough to stream high-definition TV.

Seacom is the first of a series of undersea fibre optic cables that are expected to go live over the next few years, linking both the East and West coasts of Africa with the rest of the world.