BRICS CABLE maynot be approved this summit

No concrete decision is expected for the building of the undersea broadband cable that would link Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (the BRICS countries) to each other and the US, at a cost of $ 1.2 bn at the forth coming summit later this week.

Though South African promoters – Imphandze Subtel Services (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Imphandze Investments, involved in promoting the project, will have to wait as the 5th BRICS Summit to be held in Durban is not expected to give any green signal yet.

Speaking to FE, Oliver Stuenkel, assistant professor of International Relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo, said, "I think this is a long-term project, and further analysis will be necessary to see when it can be started, " he went to add, " I don't expect much regarding this topic at the summit."

The government officials in New Delhi have feigned ignorance over the existence of any such project, the BRICS Cable project was launched in April 2012 following a positive reception at the BRICS summit in New Delhi in March 2012.

The cost of 34,000km fibre-optic cable, with 12.8 terabits per second capacity, could vary between $ 750 million and $ 1.2 bn and depends on the optimal combination of build and buy of segments, as determined by the capacity requirements of the investors.

Reportedly in the interests of a more commercially attractive and viable system, the project promoters are investigating a number of possible scenarios that involve different combinations of: i) green-fields build of critical segments; and ii) buying (or leasing) of capacity on existing systems.

The mammoth nature of the project can be ascertained from the fact that once completed the 34,000-km-long BRICS Cable, stretching from Vladivostok in Russia to Miami in the US, will be the third longest undersea telecommunications cable in the world.

Through the cable, the original BRIC members of the grouping will be able to establish a two-way avenue with 21 African countries currently using those systems. This in turn will enhance the scope of trade and economic ties between BRICS and Africa.

In the process, the cable project will also inevitably lead to a tremendous rise in the stature of South Africa within Africa as South Africa would emerge a gateway between BRICS and the African continent.

Reportedly Axiom and Terabit Consulting – two global leading consulting firms in the submarine cable industry – carried out the market, traffic and commercial feasibility, while Alcatel-Lucent – the world leading provider of turnkey submarine cable systems networks – carried out the technical feasibility.

BRICS is an economic bloc representing five of the world's leading emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.