By Nqobile Dludla

CAPE TOWN, Nov 14 (Reuters) - African governments should

give fibre optic cables greater protection from attacks and

harmonize policies around layouts to encourage the development

of tech infrastructure, a Google executive said on

Thursday.

Charles Murito, Google's head of government relations and

public policy in Africa, wants fibre classified as critical

infrastructure, giving the terrestrial and subsea cables that

underpin the continent's communications more protection.

Damage caused by criminal syndicates seeking to steal

batteries and generators from tower base stations and dig up

fibre optic cables has increased significantly in recent years,

creating extra costs for network infrastructure providers.

"When you classify that as a critical investment, then that

ensures that if people maliciously damage that investment, then

there are stringent repercussions," Murito said in an interview

on the sidelines of the Africa Tech conference.

Google has invested in intercontinental subsea cables such

as Equiano, which connects Africa with Europe, and in May

announced a new subsea cable project called Umoja, the first

direct fibre optic route between Africa and Australia.

The industry and telecom bosses say improved protections for

fibre infrastructure and mobile towers would offer reassurance

to investors considering setting up businesses on the continent.

In his engagements with governments, Murito has also

proposed more sharing of cable infrastructure among internet

service providers to lower data costs and more "harmonization"

across countries in how the cables are laid.

Another hindrance to fibre expansion across the continent,

in which mobile internet penetration was just 27% last year, is

the variety of rules around permissions granted to telecom and

tech companies to install, maintain, and upgrade infrastructure.

In South Africa, the government and regulator have urged

police to arrest the perpetrators of damage and said laws need

to be updated to take new technologies into account, but have

yet to propose a new classification for fibre optic cables.