Telecom Egypt, the telecom operator in Egypt and one of the largest subsea cables operators in the region and Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) company, are set to launch the first Saudi submarine cable linking Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The new cable, which is wholly owned by Mobily, will pass through the Red Sea, connecting Saudi Arabia and Egypt and opening the way for expansion and access to Europe through various connectivity options. The new subsea cable expands the company’s network of subsea cable systems and extensive international infrastructure to provide more reliable connectivity, handle increasing telecom traffic, and meet the growing demand for internet services locally and internationally.
According to Eng. Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Badran, Chief Executive Officer of Mobily, “The Mobily’s new cable will connect Saudi Arabia to Egypt and improve communication flexibility between the Middle East and Europe. I am pleased with our cooperation with Telecom Egypt, which will enable us to offer the best services to all our customers around the world.”
The new cable will land at two cable landing stations along the Red Sea: Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and Duba in Saudi Arabia. This cable will enable Mobily to connect the Arabian Gulf, and neighboring countries with Saudi Arabia to the Egypt landing station in Red Sea through Mobily digital corridors. Additionally, the cable will provide connections to various subsea cable systems landing in Egypt.
This agreement is part of Mobily’s strategy to expand its extensive infrastructure and network. The new cable builds on the company’s previous investments in subsea cables, which link it to various regions around the world, further enhancing Mobily’s international capacity.
“This agreement marks a significant milestone in our collaboration with Mobily, advancing our joint ambitious plans and connecting major regional hubs such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia,” said Eng. Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Egypt. “Complementing the establishment of a new landing station in Sharm El Sheikh, we are developing new crossing routes to connect Sharm El Sheikh to the Mediterranean Sea.”
Telecom Egypt is confident that this commercial agreement will be a valuable addition to its ongoing efforts to support this critical sector and cater for the rising demand for capacity and connectivity. Its partnership with Mobily to expand its local and international subsea network infrastructure will enhance capacity and extend its global reach through new partnerships.
In May 2023, Telecom Egypt announced a successful landing of the 2Africa subsea cable in Port Said, the second and final 2Africa landing in Egypt, coming five months after the first landing in the Red Sea city of Ras Ghareb. The landing in Port Said also marks the completion of 2Africa installations on Egyptian territory.
Telecom Egypt completed 2Africa’s terrestrial crossing in Egypt ahead of schedule in 2020; meanwhile, in October 2022, it concluded the third marine path connecting the Ras Ghareb and Suez landing stations.
Since its early deployment of telegraph subsea cables connecting Africa, Europe, and Asia about 150 years ago, Egypt has been the most reliable and trusted hub linking the three continents. In addition to this well-established history in the subsea cable industry, Telecom Egypt capitalizes on the nation’s extensive coastlines on both the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea (1,941km and 995 km, respectively), giving it a competitive advantage in providing a geodiverse, uniform integral system via an ever-expanding international network.
Launched in May 2020 by a consortium of firms – Telecom Egypt, Meta, China Mobile International, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, center3 (stc), Vodafone and WIOCC – and with the contracting of Alcatel Submarine Networks (“ASN”) to build the cable, the 2Africa subsea cable system is designed to deliver seamless international connectivity solutions and boost internet connectivity, linking Africa with the rest of the world. It further enhances Egypt’s position as a key international hub for global communication networks.
2Africa lands in two carefully-chosen sites in Egypt: on the Red Sea, it lands at the Ras Ghareb landing site, located 100km south of the Zafarana cable landing station, whereas the Mediterranean landing site, Port Said, is located 250km east of the Alexandria landing station. Both landing stations connect via two terrestrial trans-Egypt routes adjacent to the Suez Canal. The crossing solution, deployed with next-generation fibre technology, will offer seamless optical paths between Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is complemented with the subsea festoon in the Red Sea on Telecom Egypt’s Red2Med cable system, which connects the Red Sea landing stations of Ras Ghareb, Zafarana, and Suez adding an extra layer of diversity to the crossing.
2Africa is expected to be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects interconnecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. The 45,000km system will deliver more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables serving Africa today. With its 16 fibre-pairs’ count and a design capacity of up to 180Tbps, 2Africa will connect 33 countries through 46 landings, ultimately enhancing global connectivity, and facilitating communications for over 3 billion people over fast, secure, cost-efficient routes.
