The 2Africa subsea cable consortium, comprised of China Mobile International, Meta, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC, has announced the first landing of the 2Africa cable – in Genoa, Italy.
More landings are planned in the coming months. The cable will eventually be extended to a total of 46 locations by the completion of the project in 2024.
Vodafone, the 2Africa landing party in Genoa, has partnered with Equinix to land the cable directly into the Equinix Carrier Neutral Data Centre (CNDC), with Retelit, described as the Italian leader in constructing tailor-made digital transformation projects, delivering the fronthaul.
As with all 2Africa cable landings, capacity will be available to service providers in Genoa on a fair and equitable basis, encouraging and supporting the development of a healthy internet ecosystem.
Working with a local Italian operator, 2Africa has also developed a new terrestrial route connecting the Genoa cable landing station (CLS) directly to major CNDCs in Milan.
The 2Africa subsea cable system was announced in May 2020. Together with its Pearls extension, announced in September 2021, it is designed to deliver seamless international connectivity to approximately 3 billion people. Pearls adds 1.8 billion people to the original 1.2 billion enjoying increased connectivity. This expanded figure represents 36% of the global population and means the system will connect three continents: Africa, Europe and Asia.
At 45,000 kilometres, it will be the longest subsea cable ever deployed. The partners say that good progress on the survey work and manufacturing continues, with the 2Africa project remaining on track for completion in 2024.
