2Africa subsea cable makes final SA landing

South Africa has witnessed another landing for the 2Africa subsea cable system, this time in Amanzimtoti near Durban in KwaZulu-Natal and installed by the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC).

The cable joins into WIOCC-owned Open Access Data Centres' (OADC's) carrier-neutral data center in Durban.

2Africa was announced in May 2020 and is being rolled out by a consortium backed by Meta (Facebook), including WIOCC along with partners China Mobile International, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, center3 (stc), Telecom Egypt and Vodafone/Vodacom.

The 45,000km-long 2Africa is set to be the world's largest subsea cable system and will connect Africa, Europe and Asia. It aims to significantly increase the capacity, quality and availability of Internet connectivity between Africa and the rest of the world, with a design capacity of up to 180 Tbit/s.

Specifically in South Africa WIOCC said the arrival of 2Africa will more than double SA's total subsea capacity inventory and help accelerate growth of the country's digital economy.

The KwaZulu-Natal landing is 2Africa's fourth and final on the coast of South Africa before heading further up the east coast of Africa to make more landings in other countries.

In SA there have already been two landings in the Western Cape facilitated by MTN GlobalConnect (in Yzerfontein and Duynefontein) and another one by Vodacom in the Eastern Cape (in Gqeberha).

"We are pleased to be working with our partners in the 2Africa project, bringing faster, more reliable Internet to local businesses and consumers, and making an enduring contribution to communications in Africa," said WIOCC Group CEO Chris Wood.

The 2Africa subsea cable makes its fourth landing in South Africa, at Amanzimtoti in KwaZulu-Natal. (Source: WIOCC)

"The subsea cable system is enabling more communities to access transformative online resources, from education and healthcare to jobs and financial services, and experience the economic and social benefits of seamless connectivity," Wood added.

Expected benefits

The arrival of the 2Africa cable system in Amanzimtoti, 25km south of Durban, will bring much-needed additional international capacity for Internet and other services, support high-speed Internet delivery and provide greater diversity, which will benefit businesses and individuals throughout South Africa, WIOCC said.

A study from RTI predicts that that within two to three years of becoming operational, 2Africa will catalyze between $26.2 billion and $36.9 billion in economic impact for Africa – which is equivalent to between 0.42% and 0.58% of the continent's GDP.

Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is responsible for manufacturing and deploying the 2Africa cable, due for completion in 2024 via 46 landing locations in 33 countries.

The 2Africa East cable system, of which the Amanzimtoti branch is a part, will be ready for service by the fourth quarter of 2023 while the western part of the cable will be ready in 2024.

Map of the planned 2Africa route and landings. (Source: 2Africa Press Kit)

2Africa will have 27 landings in Africa across 19 countries, including four landings in South Africa and two each in Mozambique, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Egypt.

In September 2021, it announced a new additional segment – called the 2Africa PEARLS branch – that will connect the Arabian Gulf and South Asia.

The 2Africa project is rolling out beside another major cable, Google's Equiano, which will connect South Africa to Europe along Africa's west coast. Equiano made its landing on SA shores in August 2022.

Related posts: