Vodafone Spain has announced plans to extend the 2Africa cable system from the Canary Islands to the Iberian peninsula with a view to meeting the archipelago’s voice and data traffic requirements over the next few decades. In a statement, the operator said it has teamed up with CanaLink and the governing body of the island of Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife) to fund the extension and improve the resilience and performance of its local network, paving the way for the launch of 5G and ultra-fast broadband services for institutions, companies and private users alike.
Vodafone and the Cabildo de Tenerife will each have a 50 percent stake in the Canary Islands section of the cable system, which will be built by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN). When activated in late 2023, it will provide a direct optical link between Telde in the Canary Islands and Continental Europe, said the operator.
First announced over a year ago, the 37,000km-long 2Africa system will be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects and will interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), the Middle East (via Saudi Arabia), and 21 landings in 16 countries in Africa. The cable is expected to go live at the end of 2023, with a design capacity of up to 180Tbps on key parts of the system.
