The Main One cable, which will offer wholesale broadband capacity in West Africa, is now live, reports Business Day.

It will offer 1,920 gigabytes per second (Gbps) data capacity and is 7, 000 kilometres long. With landing stations in Nigeria and Ghana, and branching units in Morocco, Canary Islands, Senegal and Ivory Coast, the cable will deliver ten times more and faster broadband capacity than is currently available in West Africa.

Analysts say the system will see to an immediate 50% drop in the price of bandwidth in Nigeria and Ghana. Continued price reduction is expected over time.

Operators in the telecommunications sector will also have the additional capacity they require to expand networks and mobilize a broader range of services.

Main One is the first privately owned and indigenous submarine network cable in West Africa. The cable system was delivered on time and within budget, a rare occurrence with projects of this magnitude and complexity.

MTN Nigeria is the largest single user of bandwidth in the country, at two Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM).