Liquid Intelligent Technologies (LIT) has successfully installed the Mauritius Telecom T3 subsea cable connecting Mauritius to South Africa.

The cable has been deployed at the company's South African landing facility in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban.

According to Cassava Technologies-owned LIT, the T3 cable is made up of four fiber pairs, with a design capacity of 13.5 Tbps per fiber pair and 54 Tbps for the whole system.

The company claims that the cable will provide reliable Internet connectivity for economies in the Indian Ocean islands to South Africa, while leveraging on Liquid’s 110,000km of fiber backbone across the continent.

“At Liquid South Africa, we are working towards building a digitally connected country that leaves no South African behind. Through our partnerships in multiple sea cables like Equiano, METISS, EASSy, and even with the T3 cable system, we have ensured that South Africans and businesses alike can leverage their business needs using cost-effective, low-latency internet to serve their business-critical connectivity needs,” said Deon Geyser, CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa.

Geyser added that the partnership will foster economic growth that will contribute to creating job opportunities in the country.

In March, Mauritius Telecom landed the T3 subsea fiber cable in Mauritius, at a cable landing station in Baie Jacotet in the Bel Ombre area of the Indian Ocean island.

ASN is the contracted supplier and layer for the cable, with the cable ship CS Teliri landing the cable in Mauritius; the 3,200km cable is set to go live before the end of 2023.

T3 is a partial revival of the IOX submarine cable project that was set to connect Mauritius with South Africa and India. First announced in 2017, it was dropped in 2019.

The SAFE cable linking South Africa with India and Malaysia via Mauritius and Reunion Island landed in Baie Jacotet in 2002, while the Mauritius and Rodrigues Submarine Cable System (MARS) landed in the area in 2019.

The Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION) and Meltingpot Indianoceanic Submarine System (METISS) also connect the island to Madagascar and South Africa respectively, landing further north.

SAFE and LION are operated by Mauritius Telecom. The telco said it is invested in the T3 cable to “diversify its digital roads and secure its access to information highways.”