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SEACOM Coverage Map
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The SEACOM cable system (often called SEACOM/TGN-Eurasia in some segments) is a major subsea fiber‐optic network that connects parts of East and Southern Africa to Europe and Asia.
Its coverage map shows the undersea and terrestrial routes by which it brings international bandwidth and connects to many landing stations.
Below is a detailed description of what the SEACOM coverage map looks like, how it is laid out, and what it implies.
General Layout & Route
- The SEACOM network spans roughly 17,000 km in total length.
- It begins in South Africa, traveling north along the eastern coastline of Africa, with landing points in several countries including Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, and Djibouti.
- From Djibouti, the cable continues into the Red Sea / Egyptian region and eventually into Europe (notably France) and across to India.
- On some segments, SEACOM is integrated with or shares routes with the TGN-EA (Tata Communications / Eurasia) cable system, particularly in the Egypt-India stretch.
So on the map, you see a continuous backbone along the east coast of Africa, linking southern Africa to East Africa, then onward through a Red Sea / Egypt crossing, and onward to Europe and Asia.
Landing Stations & Key Nodes
The SEACOM coverage map highlights the landing stations (where the submarine cable meets land) as key nodes.
Some of the major ones are:
- Mtunzini, South Africa — This is the South African landing station for SEACOM along the eastern coast.
- Mombasa, Kenya — A crucial East African landing point.
- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Another important east coast landing point.
- Maputo, Mozambique — Also on the eastern coast of southern Africa.
- Djibouti (YAC / CLS) — The cable’s entry into the Red Sea / Horn of Africa region.
- Egypt (Zafaranah, Abu Talat, and possibly other landings in Egypt) — This is where SEACOM transitions toward the Mediterranean / Europe corridor.
- Marseille, France — The European landing (Mediterranean side).
- Mumbai, India — On the Asia side (Indian Ocean to South Asia).
In maps, these landings are often marked as circles or points of presence (POPs), and lines (solid or dashed) are used to show subsea segments and sometimes partner or alternate routes.
Partner Network and “Meet Me” Points
Beyond SEACOM’s core network, the coverage map often shows “SEACOM Partner Network” extensions and Meet-Me Points (MMPs) or Points of Presence (PoPs). These allow the subsea backbone to link into terrestrial fiber networks, local ISPs, data centers, and other subsea systems.
Thus, the coverage is not only the submarine cable, but also how its capacity is distributed inland — which is visible on a detailed map by showing connections from landing stations outward across national fiber networks.
Some would be embarrassed to admit it, but I am going to give it to you straight up. I don’t watch, listen to, or read the news.
It’s not that I like to be out of the loop; rather, this is a defense mechanism that I developed after first being exposed to the gruesome, horrific, doomsday nature of news in Kenya.
After spending many troubled nights feeling like the world was a horrible place, nights on which coincidentally I had watched the evening news, I put two-and-two together and decided to forgo having my finger on the pulse of current events, in favor of being a calmer, happier, more positive Nairobi resident.
How do I keep abreast of what’s going on in the world, you might ask?
My response to you would be: if something is really important and worth knowing about, then people will be talking (and blogging) about it. Eventually, I’ll find out somehow.
Take, for instance, the advent of the SEACOM cable to East Africa.