Paratus Group has launched what it believes to be the fastest fibre express route from Johannesburg to Europe.

Using Infinera FlexILS and GX Series DWDM equipment, latency on the new route is just 123 milliseconds and the Infinera equipment can support wavelengths of up to 800Gb.

The news comes as Paratus has completed its 1 890kms fiber link between Johannesburg, via Botswana, to Swakopmund which connects with the Paratus landed Equiano subsea cable that runs from Namibia to Lisbon and on to London and the rest of Europe.

the Johannesburg to Lisbon route delivers a much lower latency compared to other similar routes and is live now that the Johannesburg to Lobatse link is complete along with the Paratus built Botswana Kalahari Fiber (BKF) which stretches across Botswana into Namibia to connect to the Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Swakopmund.

Paratus is the landing partner for the Equiano Subsea Cable in Namibia, which offers an alternative route out of South Africa and mitigates against possible fiber outages between Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The news also comes at a time when network disruptions abound in Africa, particularly after recent subsea cable breaks, and gives network operators an alternative high speed and resilient connection.

Paratus Group chief commercial officer Martin Cox comments: “As a steadfast partner with pan-African expertise, we offer unrivalled wholesale capacity solutions for network operators. Because we understand the unique connectivity needs of the various regions, we have tailored our solutions to meet their specific requirements. Culminating in this unique express route, we can now offer carriers and operators a diverse and unequalled transmission route to Europe. It’s simply the best.”

Schalk Erasmus, CEO of Paratus Group, adds: “Our continual investment in creating Africa’s quality network is now extended with the launch of this express route. This is an exciting time for network operators in South Africa because they can now procure the fastest and most robust connectivity from Johannesburg to Europe.”