Consortium announces four new Branches for 2Africa submarine cable system
The 2Africa consortium, which comprises China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC, have announced plans to add four branches to the 2Africa submarine cable. The branches will add connectivity to the Seychelles, the Comoros Islands, and Angola, as well as a new landing to southeast Nigeria. The new branches are in addition to a recently announced extension to the Canary Islands.
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) will deploy the new branches, which will increase the number of 2Africa landings to 35 in 26 countries. As with the other 2Africa cable landings, capacity will be available to service providers at carrier-neutral data centers or open-access cable landing stations (see "2Africa submarine cable to connect 23 countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East ").
The consortium touts the 2Africa effort as the largest submarine cable project in the world. Work on the submarine network began in 2020, and the undersea system is expected to be ready for service in late 2023. Most of the undersea route survey work has been completed, and ASN has begun manufacturing the cable and building repeater units in its factories in Calais and Greenwich. Wet plant deployment is expected to begin in 2022.
The project also has terrestrial components. The Egypt terrestrial route that interconnects landing sites on the Red and the Mediterranean Seas via two completely diverse land routes has been completed ahead of schedule. A third diverse marine path will complement this segment via the Red Sea.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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