2Africa Submarine Cable

1. Consortium Members

• Facebook (now Meta)
• China Mobile International
• MTN GlobalConnect
• Orange
• STC (Saudi Telecom Company)
• Telecom Egypt
• Vodafone
• WIOCC (West Indian Ocean Cable Company)

2. Length of the Cable

The total length of the 2Africa cable is approximately 45,000 kilometers.

3. Landing Cities

Europe:

• Marseille, France
• Genoa, Italy
• Barcelona, Spain
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Gabal El Zeit, Egypt (Mediterranean)

Africa:

• Mombasa, Kenya
• Durban, South Africa
• Davao, South Africa
• Gqeberha, South Africa
• Yzerfontein, South Africa
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Mahe Island, Seychelles
• Mogadishu, Somalia
• Bosaso, Somalia
• Mogadishu, Somalia
• Djibouti City, Djibouti
• Khobar, Saudi Arabia
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• Berbera, Somaliland
• Mogadishu, Somalia
• Mombasa, Kenya
• Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Zanzibar, Tanzania
• Lamu, Kenya
• Malindi, Kenya
• Mogadishu, Somalia
• Mogadishu, Somalia
• Mogadishu, Somalia
• Maputo, Mozambique
• Nacala, Mozambique
• Toliara, Madagascar
• Reunion
• Luanda, Angola
• Muanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Libreville, Gabon
• Lomé, Togo
• Accra, Ghana
• Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
• Dakar, Senegal
• Sangat Island, Senegal
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Melilla, Morocco
• Tangier, Morocco
• M'Zab, Algeria
• Tunisia
• Tripoli, Libya

Middle East:

• Port Said, Egypt
• Ras Ghareb, Egypt
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Red Sea)
• Yanbu, Saudi Arabia (Red Sea)
• Oman

4. Network Devices Used

• Repeaters: Used to amplify signals over long distances.
• Branching Units: Allow connection to multiple landing points.
• Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (OADMs): For efficient wavelength management and routing.

5. Total Bandwidth

The 2Africa cable system is designed to deliver up to 180 terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity on key segments.

6. Fiber Pairs

The system will feature 16 fiber pairs.

7. Segment Ownership

Different segments of the cable system are managed by various consortium members:

• Facebook (Meta) focuses on connecting underserved regions.
• Vodafone handles segments landing in Europe and parts of Africa.
• Telecom Egypt provides expertise and connectivity in the Mediterranean and Red Sea regions.
• Other consortium members share responsibilities across different regions.

8. Additional Technical Details

• Cable Design: Robust construction, including double armored sections in high-risk areas.
• Latency: Optimized to enhance performance for real-time applications.
• Redundancy and Reliability: Multiple landing points and diverse routing mechanisms for high reliability and fault tolerance.

9. Operational Aspects

• In-Service Date: Expected to go live by 2023/2024.
• Planned Upgrades: Future upgrades may involve increasing the number of landing points and enhancing the cable's capacity as demand grows.