SEACOM CEO Brian Herlihy took time off to answer questions from SEACOMs social media platforms. This is part of an ongoing series of question and answer sessions. 

SEACOM’s journey into Africa has seen many highs and lows. Speaking to CEO Brian Herlihy, one of his greatest highs was being seated on stage next to four African presidents.

As part of the US-Africa Business summit that was hosted last year by the Corporate Council on Africa in the US, four African heads of state participated in a Presidential Roundtable on regional integration. Herlihy, along with the presidents of Rwanda, Ghana, the Republic of Congo and Sao Tome, participated.

SEACOM CEO Brian Herlihy took time off to answer questions from SEACOMs social media platforms. This is part of an ongoing series of question and answer sessions. 

by Simeon Oriko*

The University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (UEAB), through the Baraton Information Technology Students Association (BITSA) hosts an annual Information Technology Week with the aim of sharing knowledge and showcasing projects that are all centred on a single theme. This year’s event took place from 14 to 20 February with the theme "Developing Africa Techno-Socially" and was proudly sponsored by SEACOM.

Seacom’s arrival in Tanzania is expected to bring substantial changes to the country and it’s landlocked neighbours Zambia, Malawi and Burundi.

A $300-million fibre-optic network linking all major urban centres will be complete in June this year, and neighbouring countries will be able to access the broadband from across boarders.

KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) northern coast is marked by one of the greatest protected wetlands. This area of the coast is also the exact location where the SEACOM cable landed last year, connecting the east coast of Africa to Europe and India.

Environmental authorities last week confirmed that they were satisfied that horizontal drilling to connect the R5-billion SEACOM undersea fibre-optic cable to its landing stage near Mtunzini has left no mark on the protected wetland.

Virtual Box Sales Manager, Viresh Chopta, talks to us about Microsoft's Cloud Computing and how the arrival of SEACOM better facilitates it. Cloud computing means computers and servers are no longer found on site but rather off site and can be accessed at any time through the internet.

What can Africa do with faster broadband?

Faster broadband for Africa means African ideas and innovations can move faster. It means we can more easily collaborate, educate, train and share. 

We fast approached the end of 2009, and what a year it has been for everyone at SEACOM. The year saw us struggle to fight off pirates and make sure that Africa is provided with international broadband capacity. 

Now that SEACOM has arrived, we hoping to see better, faster and cheaper broadband becoming available to you, the public. 

We are proud of our president being named ICT Newsmaker of the Year by TechCentral. Well done Brian Herlihy.

TechCentral, the South African source for news on technology, reviews and opinions, has named Brian Herlihy, president of SEACOM as the Newsmaker of the Year 2009. TechCentral ICT newsmakers of the year are people who have made the headlines in 2009 and who “happen to be people who made a real difference” in technology.