2Africa, the largest submarine cable system in the world, which will interconnect Europe, Asia and Africa, officially reached Mozambique this week, on 15 August, in the city of Nacala-Porto.
According to news reports, a first-of-its-kind data centre was also officially opened by project partner, Master Power Technologies, which specializes in quality backup power solutions.
Pan-African operator (and local presence through its Mozambique business) Vodacom is the designated partner for the landing, providing infrastructure for the cable installation at existing sites in the Maputo harbour area and Nacala port. This is the first submarine cable to land in the north of the country. It promises greater internet capacity and accelerated connectivity for Vodacom customers, supporting the growing digital economy in Mozambique.
From this infrastructure, local service providers will be able to obtain capacity on a fair and equitable basis, encouraging and supporting the development of a healthy internet services ecosystem. Direct international connectivity can then be provided to data centres, enterprises, and wholesale customers. The landing of the fibre optic cable system also offers the potential for much-needed regional job creation.
Through this submarine fibre optic cable infrastructure, Vodacom will provide a direct international gateway for faster and more reliable internet services in the country.
The eight international partners in the 2Africa consortium are China Mobile International, Meta, Bayobab (formerly MTN GlobalConnect), Orange, Center3, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone Group, and WIOCC.
Alcatel Submarine Networks is responsible for the manufacture and installation of the 2Africa cable, which is scheduled for completion in 2024.
Other recent 2Africa landings include Egypt, Gqeberha in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, and as we reported last week, Angola.
