The Meta-led 2Africa subsea cable has landed on the Canary Islands.
Announced this week, the cable landed at Salinetas Beach in Telde, on the island of Gran Canaria.
The €12 million ($13m) project was made through a 50:50 partnership between Vodafone and the Cabildo de Tenerife, through Canalink.
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, that would circle the African continent, back in 2020.
Vodafone announced the cable would be extended to the Canary Islands in 2021.
“We are delighted to be part of this project that will increase the capacity of the Internet connection between Africa and the rest of the world and will position the Canary Islands as a strategic point of international telecommunications,” Canalink said.
At 45,000km, it is the world's longest subsea cable and will connect 33 countries with 46 landing points across Africa, Europe, and Asia when it is complete. Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is responsible for manufacturing and deploying the 16-fiber pair, 180Tbps cable, which is due for final completion in 2024.
Work laying the East African portion of the cable started in late 2022. Work on the west portion of the cable began earlier this year.
Founded in 2004, Canalink offers connectivity services and has been owned by the Council of Tenerife since 2013.
