Neotel committed to Seacom

South Africa’s second national wireline operator Neotel says it is still committed to taking part in the planned Seacom undersea cable project which will link a number of African countries to international cable networks. The future of the USD550 million cable had been put in jeopardy when the South African government said it would not permit majority foreign-owned cable links to land on South African territory; Neotel has a minority stake in Seacom, with overseas investors making up the bulk of its shareholders. Nevertheless, the telco says it has held discussions with both the government and the regulator and says it is confident that the Seacom project will be allowed to land in South Africa since its fixed line licence incorporates international cable operations. The Seacom cable is scheduled to enter operation in 2009.