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Telecom Egypt activates subsea link on 2Africa cable

By , Senior contributor
Egypt , 24 Jan 2025
Mohamed Nasr, managing director and CEO, Telecom Egypt.
Mohamed Nasr, managing director and CEO, Telecom Egypt.

Telecom Egypt announced yesterday the activation of a Mediterranean subsea link on the 2Africa subsea cable system.

The project is a collaboration with Cisco, a global provider of networking and security technologies.

The link uses Cisco's Network Convergence System to establish a high-capacity connection between Port Said, Egypt, and Marseille, France, via Genoa, Italy, according to the telco.

It went on to state that the region's exponential growth of capacity-intensive applications such as cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) services is driving need for more subsea network capacity, which necessitates modern coherent transmission systems with high performance.

“This project enables Telecom Egypt to maximize the potential of its subsea assets on the 2Africa subsea cable, enhancing the efficiency of its the cable operations and boosting international traffic capacity,” said Telecom Egypt.

At 45,000 kilometers long, 2Africa is one of the world's largest subsea cable systems, interconnecting Europe (eastward via Egypt), Asia, and Africa.

Mohamed Nasr, managing director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, commented: "Collaboration is the cornerstone of innovation, and we are pleased to be supported by Cisco on this important project.

“By enhancing the capacity of our well-established subsea infrastructure, we are meeting the surging demand for bandwidth-intensive services such as cloud computing and AI across the Mediterranean and beyond.

“Today, we reiterate our unwavering commitment to investing in advanced network technologies and solutions to address growing demand while enabling international connectivity through strategic telecommunication highways. Looking ahead, we aim to unlock even more of our potential by developing new projects and launching innovative products and services."

Gordon Thomson, vice president, EMEA Service Provider at Cisco, added: “In the AI era, reliable and fast network connections are more critical than ever.

“Our collaboration with Telecom Egypt on the 2Africa cable exemplifies the potential for enhancing network capacity over very long distances. We're proud to lead the way in supporting the growing demand for robust, high-capacity networks by providing cutting-edge technology that enables Telecom Egypt to optimize its capacity on the 2Africa cable."

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