Everyone has heard about cloud computing and how it has changed the world, and how a changing world has, in turn, accelerated the evolution and uptake of the cloud. From large, critical customer-facing applications to internal collaboration tools such as video conferencing, almost every business uses the cloud in some form.
By Ryan Sher, chief operating officer of WIOCC
Cloud providers in Southern Africa are aware that the mass migration to the cloud has brought with it demand, speed, latency and data sovereignty challenges, and so they’ve reacted pragmatically by moving their services and the data supporting them closer to their users in South Africa and other African countries. The evolution of cloud computing on these shores, and the internet in general, is powered by high-capacity subsea cables connected to massive data centres that can scale up to support the cloud providers.
Hyperscalers, such as Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, and their Asia-based counterparts including Alibaba and Tencent, demand data centre space and performance an order of magnitude larger than almost any enterprise’s requirements. Meeting their needs requires a pan-African network of core data centres interconnected over hyperscale terrestrial and subsea cable systems that the cloud giants can leverage for their products and services. Increasingly, 5G deployments and other technological developments will further extend the cloud, pushing infrastructure demand for high-speed networks and data centre facilities even closer to content originators and consumers.
Another significant shift in the internet ecosystem is that large cloud providers are becoming full or partial investors in hyperscale subsea cables. The subtext is clear: the cloud is evolving, cloud operators are increasingly coming to these shores to deliver higher-performance services, and the cables and data centres interconnecting their facilities globally and connecting them to their customers are critical to the next evolution of the internet.
What do the cloud hyperscalers require? Both dedicated, high-performance connectivity and space and power for their high-specification equipment; so connectivity and data centres go hand in hand.
This means that if you can provide open access network connectivity across a range of terrestrial and subsea routes, and open access data centres across the African continent, you are – in essence – pouring petrol into the ecosystem and when it ignites, Africa benefits. Having some of the world’s largest hyperscalers and content players in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent provides internet service providers (ISPs} and large enterprises – who need to be in world-class data centres – with a golden opportunity to come to the same locations and benefit from the resulting proximity and scale.
The cloud players have the financial might – an example is their investments in the 2Africa and Equiano cable systems that WIOCC has landed on the east coast of South Africa and in Nigeria – giving them a strong position from which to influence the next evolution of the internet. At its core is the premise that those who want to play on the cable must play by the rules and ensure the cables are truly open access.
This is important and has required a significant shift in thinking. As a landing party on these cables, WIOCC is a custodian not a gatekeeper: a strong African partner with the capability to ensure open access. As such it has landed the cables, including the 2Africa cable in Amanzimtoti, into carrier-neutral data centres built and operated by WIOCC Group company Open Access Data Centres (OADC) – talk about putting your name on the tin!
This latest iteration of the infrastructure supporting the internet removes the gatekeeper role and the charges normally associated with it; a significant change because discarding the gatekeeper model and driving true competition will fast-track transformation across the region.
Whilst tasking each landing party with ensuring open access required a deliberate break from the status quo, being open access is not new to WIOCC. The Company has always operated in an open-access wholesale space offering its connectivity services to any carrier, internet service provider, cloud operator or content provider requiring them. Working with all parties results in the creation of an open-access ecosystem based on trust and long-term relationships. The reason this is critical now is because the next iteration of the internet is built around the ecosystem in its entirety.
If we cast our eyes back only five or 10 years, 90% of the capacity underpinning the internet was bought by internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and carriers. Today the equivalent proportion is closer to 20%. Cloud players are buying about 80% and integrating connectivity with data centre capacity to deliver the cloud. Seen and understood this way, the 2Africa cable landing in Amanzimtoti in early-February, with WIOCC and OADC at its heart, will facilitate this next iteration of the internet in South Africa: based upon a truly open-access ecosystem.
In other words, the landing of the 2Africa cable and the building of OADC is about fast-tracking the country and region’s journey towards enjoying a feast of competitive offerings presented on the digital table.