The activation, which initially connects Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, follows Vodafone’s landing of the cable in Bude, UK earlier in the week.
2Africa is the world’s largest subsea cable network, stretching over 45,000km and connecting Europe with the Africa and large parts of South Asia.
Consortium members on the cable, which is supplied by ASN, include Bayobab, China Mobile, Meta, Orange, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC.
Airtel is not listed as a consortium member on 2Africa’s website, but it has been involved in the project through landing the cable in certain markets, including Tanzania, the DRC, Congo and Kenya.
The 2Africa parties and Airtel have also signed an agreement with Telecom Egypt to provide a completely new crossing linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the first in over a decade.
Airtel’s Indian arm will also land the cable in Mumbai.
The 2Africa parties and Airtel have signed an agreement with Telecom Egypt to provide a completely new crossing linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the first in over a decade.
2Africa is implementing a new technology from ASN, SDM1, which allows for the deployment of up to 16 fibre pairs instead of the eight fibre pairs supported by older technologies.
This brings much greater and more cost-effective capacity to the system. In addition, any carrier owning fibre pairs or spectrum chooses its own optical terminal equipment, which means that carriers will go live on the cable at different times.
Service providers will obtain capacity in carrier-neutral data centres or open-access cable landing stations on a fair and equitable basis at 2Africa landings.
The launch of the South Africa to Kenya portion of the cable adds additional redundancy along the East Coast of Africa.
In March, three cables connecting the East Coast on route from Asia to Europe were damaged, and repairs are yet to be completed due to a lack of available vessels and high insurance costs caused by the tension in the Red Sea sparked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
In May, more damage occurred to the Eassy and Seacom cables off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, effecting internet services there. Kenya and other countries in south and east Africa were also affected.
