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A contract for the feasibility study has been signed by the government – through the Department of Information Communications Technology – and specialist French company Axiom.

The study will include a detailed environmental and social impact assessment for a Seychelles-East Africa submarine cable link.

Axiom is a reputable company that specialises in submarine fibre optics and telecommunications and has been heavily involved in feasibility studies for submarine cables being laid along the east coast of Africa.

Its team is technically skilled and has the full spectrum of experience in all aspects of financing, promotion, design, negotiation, construction and operation of undersea cable systems.
 
The study, which has been funded by a grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to the government, aims to establish the optimal submarine cable connectivity solution for Seychelles and provide its associated business/financial model.

The grant was approved in April of this year, and the contract – which is to be publicly exchanged tomorrow – follows several months of strict procurement procedures as required by the AfDB.

The study should be completed by the end of January 2010 and will be presented to the Seychelles Cable Systems (SCS) company and other parties that have expressed an interest in the submarine cable project.

SCS was set up in 2008 to spearhead the submarine cable project. It comprises government officials from the Department of ICT and the Ministry of Finance, along with representatives of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the four telecommunication companies – Cable & Wireless, Airtel, Intelvision and Kokonet.