Seacom, the firm that is laying down $650m of fibre-optics cable under the sea along the east coast of Africa, expects to have the work completed and ready for use by June next year – well ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

The company plans to start laying the 15,000km of cable, which is to be used to provide high speed internet access, in October this year. The cable will snake round the coastline from South Africa to Egypt, and on to India and France.

"The team is also trying to expedite the construction in an attempt to assist with the broadcasting requirements of the FIFA Confederations Cup scheduled for June 2009," said Seacom in a statement.

South Africa’s new telecoms incumbent, Neotel, has already secured the rights to control the use of the cable in South Africa. The move opens up competition in the country, as South Africa has only one cable linking it to the rest of the world, which until September 2007 was controlled by Telkom.