Orange Backs ReuNION Cable to South Africa

Publication Staff, Orange
September 2, 2026

Orange has joined Telco OI, Réunicable, and La Réunion Connectée in the consortium developing ReuNION, a planned submarine cable between La Réunion and South Africa. The partners are proposing a more direct international route intended to reduce latency, diversify connectivity, and strengthen the island’s resilience. ReuNION is still in development rather than service: consortium agreements have been signed, while surveys, permitting, manufacturing, and marine installation remain ahead.

The system is designed with 16 fiber pairs, each capable of 20 terabits per second. Orange says the added route is meant to help La Réunion prepare for the eventual retirement of existing regional submarine systems while meeting rising traffic demand. The project has support from the European Union through the Connecting Europe Facility and has also received funding approval from the European Regional Development Fund, reflecting its role as strategic digital infrastructure for an overseas territory. It is therefore both a capacity project and a route-diversity investment, rather than simply a replacement landing for one existing system.

Orange will serve as the landing party on La Réunion. That responsibility covers local permits, civil works at the shore site, construction of a secure landing station, and the terrestrial connections that make the submarine capacity accessible to operators and users. Orange Marine will handle cable deployment, while Alcatel Submarine Networks is assigned to design and manufacture the system. Combining those roles places the landing, wet plant, and on-island network interface under named specialists rather than leaving delivery responsibilities undefined.

The next phases are detailed marine surveys, permit applications, and the parallel start of cable manufacturing and laying work. Orange has not announced a ready-for-service date in the source material, so ReuNION should be treated as a planned infrastructure program whose schedule still depends on engineering and regulatory progress. The company’s landing responsibilities and Orange Marine’s deployment role extend from shore preparation through the physical installation needed to connect the system. For ReuNION, that experience will be applied to a route intended to improve long-term connectivity between the Indian Ocean island and southern Africa.

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