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The agreement will see BT offer a range of services to SEACOM’s enterprise customers in Africa, including networking, security, and communication services
Today, BT has announced a new agreement with African ICT infrastructure giant SEACOM, aiming to expand the British operator’s various enterprise service offerings across Africa.
SEACOM is best known for the eponymous submarine cable it launched back in 2009, which spans African continent’s east coast and through the Mediterranean Sea to Marseille, France. Since then, the company has launched a west coast counterpart, the West Africa Cable System (WACS) cable, in 2012, as well as acquiring various terrestrial networks to expand its reach throughout Africa.
In 2015, the company launched SEACOM Business to provide IT services to enterprises in South Africa, later expanding the unit’s reach to additional African markets, including Kenya and Uganda.
According to SEACOM, the company” has substantially grown its customer and partnership base” in recent years, with the company looking “to strengthen its offerings and serve customers beyond existing markets”.
BT suggests that it is the perfect partner to do just that, calling the combination its capabilities with those of SEACOM a “sweet spot” for enterprise customers.
“The areas of secure multi-cloud connectivity, next-generation networking solutions and collaboration services are the sweet spot where SEACOM and BT will combine their respective strengths,” explained Alessandro Adriani, director of system integrators and telecom service providers at BT’s Global unit
At the forefront of these new enterprise offerings are BT’s cybersecurity capabilities, most notably the Cloud Security Incident Event Management (SIEM) platform, which allows real-time visibility and monitoring across an organisations entire IT environment.
The deal will also give SEACOM’s enterprise customers 24/7 support from BT’s Security Operations Centres, manned by over 3,000 cybersecurity experts worldwide.
“We’re excited to form this strategic alliance with BT and see the combined value of what we bring to our respective markets. With SEACOM’s global network and local presence, and BT’s global reach and expertise, we will be able to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of Cloud, security, and connectivity services that are reliable, scalable, and at the cutting-edge of industry,” said Oliver Fortuin, Group Chief Executive Officer of SEACOM.
