Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has confirmed that it has started construction of the Africa-1 subsea cable connecting Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
The system is backed by leading operators such as Etisalat, G42, Mobily, Pakistan Telecommunication Company and Telecom Egypt, with more companies expected to join in the near future.
The 10,000km system will deliver 8 fibre pairs to connect Africa and the Middle East eastward to Pakistan and westward to Europe, increasing the available transmission capacity between Asia and Europe.
The cable will also feature ASN 1620 Softnode transmission equipment, featuring high performance 200/300/400 Gb/s advanced coherent XWAV line cards.
Commenting on the development, Alain Biston, president and CEO of Alcatel Submarine Networks said, “We are proud that the Africa-1 consortium members have chosen ASN, their trusted and experienced partner in the region, to build and to deploy the Africa 1 system, an addition to the global network that will interconnect millions of people and take part in the digital development of the whole region,”
Africa-1 will first have landings points in Kenya, Djibouti, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France. It will also land in Sudan, cross Egypt through new terrestrial routes on the way to France, and further connect other countries in the Mediterranean such as Algeria, Tunisia and Italy.
After this, additional landings will be created in Yemen and Somalia, as well as an extension from Kenya to South Africa with intermediate landings in Tanzania and Mozambique.
Due to be RFS by the end of 2023, Africa-1 will support the increasing data demands between the three continents.