The 2Africa consortium comprised of China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC, has announced the addition of 4 new branches to the 2Africa cable.
The four additions will extend 2Africa’s connectivity to the Seychelles, the Comoros Islands, and Angola, to bring a new landing to south-east Nigeria. The new branches join the recently announced extension to the Canary Islands.
2Africa, which is anticipated to be the largest subsea cable project in the world, will deliver faster, more reliable internet service to each country crossed. Communities that rely on the internet for services will experience the economic and social benefits that come from the increased connectivity.
The Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has been selected to deploy the new branches, which will increase the number of 2Africa landings to 35 in 26 countries, further improving connectivity into and around Africa. Additionally, capacity will be available to service providers at carrier-neutral data centres or open-access cable landing stations on a fair and equitable basis with other 2Africa cable landings. This will in turn encourage and support the development of a healthy internet ecosystem.
Since the launching of the 2Africa cable in May 2020, the 2Africa consortium has made considerable progress in planning and preparing for the deployment of the cable, which is expected to start operating in late 2023. ASN has already begun manufacturing the cable and building repeater units in its factories in Calais and Greenwich to deploy the first segments in 2022.
One of 2Africa’s key segments, the Egypt terrestrial crossing that interconnects landing sites on the Red and the Mediterranean Seas has also been completed ahead of schedule. A third diverse the marine path will add to this segment through the Red Sea.