Facebook, with a team of some African and Global telecom carriers, is set to extend its subsea cable projects to four more countries, including Angola, the Comoros Islands, the south-eastern part of Nigeria and Seychelles, as per the joint statement they released on 17th August.
Facebook (FB. O) will collaborate with the 2Africa consortium consisting of South Africa’s MTNJ.J GlobalConnect, China Mobile International 0941.HK, France’s Orange SA ORAN.PA, Saudi Arabia’s STC, Telecom Egypt ETEL.CA, Vodafone VOD.L and Mauritius based WIOCC.
The cable that will connect Europe, via Egypt, and the Middle East, via Saudi Arabia, and 21 landings in 16 African countries will be 22,990 miles long.
The 2Africa project will incur a cost of under $1 billion.
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has been given the work of constructing the new branches. The new infrastructure will increase the 2Africa landings to 35, reaching 26 countries overall.
It is anticipated to go live in late 2023 or by early 2024, as per the latest statement released by the consortium. Subsea cables are expected to provide cost-effective and reliable internet connectivity.
The Subsea Cables Account for 99% Of The World Data Traffic.
This huge investment by Facebook in A2Africa is succeed its other significant investments in the African continent, including infrastructure funding in South Africa, Nigeria, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Uganda.
In the wake of the Covid pandemic, billions of people worldwide are studying, working and communicating via the internet. Also, demand for fast data is at its peak as people use the internet for streaming movies, social networking and telemedicine.
Africa is a big market with over 1.2 billion and a huge number of smartphone users. The internet connectivity in Africa stands at just 26% against the global average of 51%. Facebook has been planning to tap the Africa market for a long time, and with this project, it has taken a bold step.
“2Africa will not only be an important element for advancing connectivity infrastructure across the African continent, but it will also be a major investment that comes at a critical time for economic recovery,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
The Developments In The Project:
- The manufacture of the first batch of cable infrastructure is underway in the US. Nokia Oyj’ Alcatel Submarine Networks have been assigned the work.
- Major part of the subsea route survey activity is done.
- The ASN (Alcatel Submarine Networks) has begun manufacturing the cable and building repeater units in its Calais and Greenwich factories.