On behalf of the 2Africa consortium, Meta announces the arrival of the 2Africa undersea cable in Spain.
Submarine cables: As the building blocks of a global Internet that connects people and continents, submarine cables are probably going to have a big impact on how Europe is developing right now. The cable will be extended to a total of 46 places by the time the project is finished in 2024, so this deployment is just one of many that will happen in the coming months.
To moor the cable in Sant Adrià de Bess, east of Barcelona, 2Africa has teamed up with AFR-IX telecom. Businesses and service providers in Spain will be able to connect to this global network through any of the company’s many independent facilities that have a direct link to the Barcelona cable’s mooring station, just like in all 2Africa open-access mooring ecosystems.
Meta Director for Spain and Portugal Irene Cano said, “As part of the 2Africa consortium, we announce the arrival of the 2Africa submarine cable in Barcelona. Submarine cables connect people and continents, laying the groundwork for a global Internet. They are also likely to play a big role in Europe’s current growth. “2Africa will be the longest submarine cable ever deployed, serving those communities that rely on the Internet for services such as education, healthcare, and business.”
Norman Albi, CEO, AFR-IX also said, “We are delighted to start operating at our station with 2Africa, one of the most important submarine cable systems.” The choice of this location is an example of Barcelona’s competitive advantages as a key landing point in the Mediterranean. “
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More About 2Africa’s Operations
China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN Global Connect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC formed the joint venture “2Africa” to build the “most comprehensive” subsea fiber optic cable to serve Africa and the Middle East, where nearly a billion people still don’t have access to the internet.
The 2Africa underwater cable, which was announced in May 2020, connects the three continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia to provide international access to about three billion people, or 36% of the world’s population, as of September 2021.
It will be the longest submarine cable ever deployed at 45,000 km, serving communities that rely on the Internet for services like education, healthcare, and business. This makes the 2Africa cable the longest underwater cable system ever deployed. All these communities will benefit from the increased connectivity’s positive economic and social effects.
According to studies that were commissioned, new cable landings are a catalyst for change in the broadband industry. They frequently result in economic growth for the neighborhood, which helps both people and businesses. For instance, an independent analysis found that the Marea cable, which connects Virginia Beach in the United States with Bilbao in Spain, has been bringing in over $18,000,000,000 annually to the European economy since 2019.
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Meta’s Effort With 2Africa
Meta is committed to speeding up the development of infrastructure in order to help people use social technologies. We work with mobile operators, service providers, equipment manufacturers, and lawmakers, among others, to develop technologies, business models, and insights that will improve the quality of your Internet connections so you can have the best experiences now and in the future.
Two years after Djibouti Telecom and Facebook agreed to work together to establish Djibouti as a landing place for the cable, 2Africa finally arrived. The deal was in line with the government’s plan since 2014 to give its people access to broadband. The coronavirus, which hastened the digital transition, strengthened that goal.