In a move to support and strengthen the ICT sector and offer Tunisians additional access to international broadband networks and at reduced rates, Tunisiana and Orange Tunisia have partnered with Interoute, Europe’s largest next generation network owner to deploy a submarine cable dubbed Didon.
Connecting the city of Kélibia, Tunisia to Interoute’s landing station in Mazara del Vallo, Siciliy, Italy, Didon becomes Tunisia’s first private submarine cable, covering nearly 170 km with eight Terabit per second and per operator set for set for April 2014.
According to Ken Campbell, CEO of TUNISIANA, ” The Didon cable will provide increased capacity and better service to the 7 million consumers and businesses that rely on Tunisiana.
He added that the investment is a testament of the firm’s belief in the potential for growth in Tunisia as a hub for the region.
Didier Charvet, CEO of Orange Tunisie was also delighted with the venture by saying: “The Didon cable will enable Tunisian citizen to benefit from an increased capacity and a higher secured network connectivity. This investment is also a proof that Orange Tunisie believes in the development of the ICT sector and e-services in Tunisia.
Didon will use Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine technology and will handle data speeds of 100 gigabits-per-second. The cable is set to address the fast-growing demand for fixed and mobile broadband services in Tunisia and throughout the region, and increase the reliability of the system dramatically. Didon will also provide the highest quality of service to subscribers of the two Tunisian operators by improving the capabilities of their existing international networks and providing better throughput to support continued growth in data traffic. The aim is also to provide more capacity and security for Internet users.
Tunisia has one of the most modern broadband infrastructures in the Mediterranean basin with high-speed terrestrial and undersea links providing a fully digitalized network that provides an international gateway to broader global networks. Tunisiana and Orange Tunisia offer a wide range of mobile and fixed applications ranging from Internet-on-the-go-to information and entertainment services for more than 9 million subscribers.
With this investment partnership TUNISIANA and Orange Tunisia once again demonstrate their willingness to provide their consumers and business customers services in accordance with international quality standards. All this with controlled costs, allowing them to have substantial capacity voice and data and expanding opportunities in terms of connectivity, sharing data and information with the world.