Subsea cables are the global backbone of the Internet, connecting people, businesses, and economies around the world. They connect us to the cloud, deliver streaming video, and increase efficiency and productivity for business. Subsea cables’ importance is all the more apparent during the Covid19 pandemic when many of us have switched to working from home, remote learning, and online gaming and entertainment.
We studied the economic impacts from subsea cables that arrived in Kenya in Mozambique (e.g., SEACOM, EASSy) to understand how they changed the economy. Improved connectivity led to increases in internet usage and decreases in costs, but infrastructure and affordability challenges meant that impacts were mostly in the Maputo area by 2015. Our results signal the promise connectivity improvements could have in other parts of the country.
