The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY) was the first submarine fibre project designed to connect the Eastern and Southern Africa coast with the rest of the world, reduce reliance on satellite technology and significantly lower costs of connectivity. It was backed by governments through former telecom monopolies and the Africa Union through the New Partnership for Africa's Development. From 2003, when the first project meeting was held, EASSY looked like the real solution for businesses and individuals suffering from the burden of high connectivity costs.Now, Alcatel Lucent is finalizing tests and will hand over the cable operations to EASSY management next month. EASSY, however, has been beaten to market by privately owned SEACOM and The East Africa Marine System, owned by the Kenyan government and private sector.