Summary Box: New cables bring hope of cheaper, more reliable Internet access for West Africa

Summary Box: New cables tie West Africa closer

TIMES TWO: West Africa is getting a new connection to the Internet in the form of a second cable snaking along the West African coastline, ending in Lagos, Nigeria. It has more than five times the capacity of the old one.

EFFECT ON PRICES: It’s supposed to bring competition to a market where wholesale Internet access costs nearly 500 times as much as it does in the U.S.

NOT SO FAST: Even with the overseas line, many parts of Africa still lack the fiber cables necessary to carry the signal from the shores inland.