New 2Africa Subsea Fibre Optic Cable to Link UK with Africa UPDATE

A new project – 2Africa – supported by China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC has been announced that will build a 45,000km long subsea (submarine) fibre optic cable between the United Kingdom and most of coastal Africa by around the end of 2023.

The new network expects to deliver more than the total combined data capacity of all subsea cables serving Africa today, which should help to support faster broadband speeds (as well as giving capacity to 4G and 5G mobile networks) and better international internet connectivity. Reliability improvements to local networks across all of the 33 linked countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe is another bonus (46 landing sites).

In the countries where the 2Africa cable lands, ISPs will also be able to obtain capacity in carrier-neutral datacentres and open-access cable landing stations on a fair and equitable basis. On top of that this is the first system of its size to make use of a new aluminium conductor for submarine cable systems (this allows for a much lower cable voltage drop and thus a higher number of fibre pairs per cable).

Najam Ahmad, VP of Network Infrastructure at Facebook, said:

“We’re excited to be collaborating with our 2Africa partners on the most comprehensive subsea cable that will serve the continent. 2Africa is a major element of our ongoing investment in Africa to bring more people online to a faster internet.

We’ve seen first-hand the positive impact that increased connectivity has on communities, from education to healthcare. We know that economies flourish when there is widely accessible internet for businesses. 2Africa is a key pillar supporting this tremendous internet expansion as part of Africa’s surging digital economy.”

In addition, the development team have doubled the maximum 8 fibre pairs supported by older technology by implementing Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM1) technology and it will also be the first time Wavelength Selective Switching (WSS)-ROADM is harnessed in Africa, allowing for more flexible capacity management.

The new cable also has greater protection because it can benefit from a 50% increase in burial depth (i.e. up to 3 metres below the surface), which means it’s less likely to be ripped up by the anchors of big ships or large trawlers (not to mention dragged fishing nets).

UPDATE 15th August 2023

The latest update indicates that the cable is now scheduled for completion in 2024.