2Africa Cable Lands in Mozambique
By Dan Swinhoe, DatacenterDynamics
February 17, 2023
The Meta-led 2Africa subsea cable has landed in Maputo, Mozambique.
Digital Realty-owned iColo this week announced the landing of the cable, which will be housed at its new facility in the capital city.
“2Africa cable has officially landed in Maputo!” the company said on LinkedIn. “The cable will be received at iColo data center, MPM1 located in Av Lenine.”
First announced in October 2021, The 9,500 square meter (102,250 sq ft) Maputo campus opened earlier this month. In its first phase, MPM1 provides approximately 350 sqm (3,770 sq ft) of net rentable space, enough capacity to host approximately 80 racks.
Meta, along with Telecom Egypt, China Mobile International, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Vodafone, and the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) announced the 2Africa cable back in 2020. At 45,000km, it is the world's largest subsea cable and is set to connect 33 countries with 46 landing points across Africa, Europe, and Asia once it's complete. Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is responsible for manufacturing and deploying the 180Tbps cable, which is due for completion in 2024.
A second landing in Mozambique is expected further north in Nacala, likely in partnership with Vodacom’s local unit.
The cable has also made four landings in South Africa with Vodacom, WIOCC, and MTN in recent weeks.
2Africa's cable has previously landed in Barcelona at AFR-IX Telecom’s new Cable landing station (CLS). It also recently landed at Ras Ghareb, Egypt, in partnership with Telecom Egypt, which said another landing point is expected in Port Said in the Mediterranean Sea in the coming months. Other landing points include Genoa, Italy; and Djibouti City, Djibouti.
The cable's Middle East & Asia extension, known as 2Africa Pearls, is set to land at Airtel’s CLS in Mumbai, India.