A major new undersea cable
project will provide the African continent with greater resilience in
its connectivity to the global Internet. The cable is expected to have
more capacity than all current African undersea
cables combined.
China Mobile International,
Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and
WIOCC announced today that they will partner to build 2Africa, which
will be the most comprehensive subsea cable yet
to serve the African continent and Middle East region. The parties have appointed
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build the cable in a fully funded
project which will greatly enhance connectivity across Africa
and the Middle East.
At
37,000km long, 2Africa will be one of the world’s largest subsea cable
projects and will interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), the Middle
East (via Saudi Arabia), and 21 landings
in 16 countries in Africa. The system is expected to go live in 2023/4,
delivering more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables
serving Africa today, with a design capacity of up to 180Tbps on key
parts of the system. 2Africa
will deliver much needed internet capacity and reliability across large
parts of Africa, supplement the fast-growing capacity demand in the
Middle East and underpin the further growth of 4G, 5G and fixed
broadband access for hundreds of millions of people.
In countries where the 2Africa cable will land, service providers will obtain capacity in carrier-neutral data centres or open-access cable landing stations on a fair and equitable basis. This is expected to support healthy internet ecosystem development by facilitating greatly improved accessibility for businesses and consumers alike.
The
2Africa cable has been designed to improve resilience and maximise
performance, including the option of a seamless optical crossing between
East Africa and Europe. The
2Africa parties and Airtel have signed an agreement with Telecom Egypt
to provide a completely new crossing linking the Red Sea and the
Mediterranean, the first in over a decade. This includes new cable
landing
stations and deployment of next-generation fibre on two new, diverse
terrestrial routes parallel to the Suez Canal from Ras Ghareb to Port
Said, and a new subsea link that will provide a third path between Ras
Ghareb and Suez.
The 2Africa cable will implement a new technology, SDM from ASN, allowing
deployment of up to 16 fibre pairs instead of the eight fibre pairs
supported
by older technologies, bringing much greater and more cost-effective
capacity. The cable will incorporate optical switching technology to
enable flexible management of bandwidth. Cable burial depth has also
been increased by 50% compared to older systems, and
cable routing will avoid locations of known subsea disturbance, all
helping to ensure the highest levels of availability.
“The launch of 2Africa enables us to offer our customers seamless connection between Africa and Europe, together with our
SEA-ME-WE 5 and AAE-1 subsea cable resources to further
extend to Asia, which is an important milestone of our global development
strategy,” said Jessica Gu, Director & Chief Technology Officer of
China Mobile International. “The utmost capacity and faster transmission
allows us to satisfy the needs of African nations today and in the
future, reflecting our firm commitment to building
a global digital life.”
“We’re
excited to be collaborating with our 2Africa partners on the most
comprehensive subsea cable that will serve the continent,” said Najam Ahmad,
Vice President, Network Infrastructure at Facebook.
“2Africa is a major element of our ongoing investment in Africa to
bring more people online to a faster internet. We’ve seen first-hand
the positive impact that
increased connectivity has on communities, from education to healthcare.
We know that economies flourish when there is widely accessible
internet for businesses. 2Africa is a key pillar supporting this
tremendous internet expansion as part of Africa’s surging
digital economy.”
According to Frédéric Schepens, CEO of MTN Group’s wholesale operation, MTN GlobalConnect, “MTN
GlobalConnect is delighted to participate in this bold 2Africa subsea
cable project. This initiative
complements MTN GlobalConnect’s terrestrial fibre strategy to connect
African countries to each other and to the rest of the world. We are
proud to be playing a key role in providing the benefits of a modern
connected life – a core MTN belief.”
Alioune
Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, said, “As one of the
world’s leading multi-service telecommunications operators and present
in 18 countries in Africa and the Middle
East, it was natural for Orange to be part of the 2Africa project. This
major investment will complete our existing submarine and pan-African
terrestrial infrastructures to provide access to international
connectivity in a redundant fashion throughout the west
coast of Africa. It will enable Orange to securely meet the demand for
increased bandwidth necessary for the continued digital development of
regions throughout the 2Africa system.”
Mohammed A. Alabbadi, Wholesale VP at stc, said: “stc is delighted to be a Partner in 2Africa. The 2Africa cable will be integrated into stc’s MENA Gateway (MG1) datacentre in Jeddah, enabling customers to access our extensive international content and extend their regional connectivity through stc terrestrial geo-mesh network that extends to all neighboring countries. This will undoubtedly play a significant role in enhancing stc’s international network capabilities, whilst also positioning stc as a leading regional digital player in the MENA region. The partnership demonstrates stc’s commitment, in line with Saudi Vision 2030, to deliver meaningful digital transformation and build a digital society for all.”
Adel Hamed, Telecom Egypt’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Telecom Egypt’s contribution to 2Africa marks an important milestone in our endeavor to contribute to digital transformation in Africa. Egypt’s relationship with African states has and will always be one of Egypt’s top priorities, it extends here to align with Egypt’s strategy to contribute in the current development in Africa. We are honored to be part of such a revolutionary project alongside renowned global and African partners. For years, we have accomplished tangible steps in revamping our international infrastructure and increasing our assets’ geodiversity in order to keep pace with the rising global demand for large bandwidth and global reach. We trust that 2Africa will be a rich addition to our diversified investments in the subsea cable industry.”
“Improving connectivity for Africa is a significant step which
lays the groundwork for increased digitalisation across the continent,”
said Diego Gutierrez, Vodacom International Business Chief Officer.
“2Africa will give local businesses and consumers
a better online experience while more connectivity between Africa,
Europe and the Middle East will help to build a wider, more inclusive
digital society across the globe. We’re delighted to work with our
partners in the project to help deliver this.”
Said WIOCC CEO, Chris Wood, “For over a decade WIOCC has been the hyperscale capacity provider for Africa, based upon a strategy of ongoing strategic investment in key subsea and terrestrial infrastructure. Participation in 2Africa continues this commitment to providing large capacity users with the resilient network they need to support their customers’ ever-growing bandwidth requirements. Our investment both future-proofs our network capabilities and provides additional resilience to maximise uptime for our critical infrastructure.”
Alain
Biston, President of Alcatel SubmarineNetworks, said: “We are honored
by the trust of our partners and proud to have been selected for this
project. With this state-of-the-art
subsea system, Africa will take a giant leap to the digital age thanks
to the best-in-class technologies. Africa is a long story for ASN: we
have deployed the majority of submarine cables around the continent.
2Africa will be a great new chapter.”
Further information can be found on the 2Africa website at www.2AfricaCable.com.
