Facebook extends submarine cable to Africa, including direct connection to Angola

According to Bloomberg financial news agency, Facebook, China Mobile and MTN Group will build a more complete submarine cable than originally planned, which joins the recently announced link with the Canary Islands, providing a direct connection to 35 countries instead. From 26. Initially announced.

“Facebook’s significant investment in 2Africa builds on other investments we have made across the continent, including infrastructure investments in South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [RDCongo]According to a company statement quoted by Bloomberg.

Facebook and Alphabet, which owns Google, are backing 80% of the latest investments in transatlantic communications, in an effort to capitalize on the growing demand for fast data transmission used in all sectors, from medical consultations to streaming movies or sharing messages. on social media.

Investments in recent years, amounting to nearly $1 billion (€850 billion), track the $20 billion (€17 billion) that phone operators have invested in submerged fiber optic networks due to the aggressive expansion of technology companies in the 1990s.

Production of the first parts of this subsea infrastructure has already begun in the USA, and it will include a 37,000 km cable to connect Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The FRA statement added that the 2Africa link is expected to be operational in 2024 and will ensure more than the current capacity of all cables serving the African continent.