Connectivity challenge in Africa is receiving attention from tech and telecoms giants around the world. These efforts will now lead to Africa connecting with a major part of the world.
2Africa, a subsea cable project funded by Facebook and several telcos, will become the longest subsea cable system ever deployed by the time it’s finished. The social network has announced that the consortium of companies behind the initiative has decided to add a new segment to the structure called 2Africa Pearls, which will connect Africa, Europe and Asia.
When Facebook first announced the project, it said 2Africa will lay down 37,000km of cables on the ocean floor. Last month, the company also announced that the consortium is extending the cable’s reach to four more branches in Seychelles, the Comoros Islands, Angola and the south-eastern part of Nigeria. This new segment would bring its total length to over 45,000km.
Since launching 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 ‘go live’ in late 2023. Most of the subsea route survey activity is now complete. ASN has started 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 via two completely diverse terrestrial routes, has been completed ahead of schedule. A third diverse marine path will complement this segment via the Red Sea.
IOL Tech