The cable has been laid from South African waters and Mozambique and is now resting on the seabed of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, according to Brian Herlihy, the project's president.

"A third ship is currently being loaded with the remainder of SEACOM's deepwater cable which will be deployed from India towards Africa where the cable segments will be joined," Herlihy said.

Herlihy also said high-performance optical-transmission equipment, which connects customers to inland terrestrial networks, has been installed in Maputo, Mumbai and Djibouti landing stations.

The US$650 million cable project is expected to boost bandwidth and communication between the eastern and southern regions of Africa and the rest of the world.

Many African countries are still relying on satellite communications, which are blamed on the high cost of telecom in the region.