Telecom Egypt has completed the landing of a new subsea cable in two locations.

The Egyptian telco and subsea cable supplier SubCom announced the successful completion of the two landings of the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE-6) subsea cable system in Egypt: in Port Said on the Mediterranean coast, and in Ras Ghareb, on the Red Sea.

SEA-ME-WE-6 will run from Singapore (Tuas) to France (Marseille), crossing Egypt’s territory terrestrially. The two landing points are linked by “diverse and resilient” terrestrial fiber crossings.

Mohamed Nasr, Telecom Egypt MD and CEO, said: “We are thrilled to announce the successful landings of the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable system in Port Said and Ras Ghareb, marking another significant milestone in our journey to expand Telecom Egypt’s global reach and strengthen our subsea infrastructure. These strategic landings underscore our commitment to enabling countries across the region and beyond to realize their digital ambitions by investing in building a robust, resilient, and future-ready network to serve the global subsea community.”

The 21,700 km cable system is set to feature 17 landing points. First announced in 2022, it is set to offer 12.6 Tbps per fiber pair across 10 pairs and go live next year.

Landing partners include Beyon in Bahrain, Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC, Bharti Airtel in India, China United Network Communications Group Company Limited, Dhiraagu in the Maldives, Djibouti Telecom, Microsoft, Mobily in Saudi Arabia, Orange in France), PCCW Global, Singtel, Sri Lanka Telecom, Telekom Malaysia, Telin in Indonesia, and Trans World Associates in Pakistan.

David Coughlan, president and CEO of SubCom, added: “Our congratulations to Telecom Egypt and its consortium partners on the landings of SEA-ME-WE-6 in Port Said and Ras Ghareb, which are another major step towards the complete deployment of this expansive subsea cable system. From engineering to route design, and manufacturing to installation, SubCom has played a vital role in making SEA-ME-WE-6 a reality for its operators and their customers. Our team looks forward to the next set of milestones associated with this impressive project.”

Orange landed the cable in Marseille, France, last year. Bharti Airtel landed the cable in Chennai, India, in February this year, following a landing in Mumbai in December. Sri Lanka Telecom landed SEA-ME-WE 6 in Matara in January. In the Maldives, Dhiraagu landed the cable in August.

Egypt, which acts as a connection point between the Mediterranean, Asia, and East Africa, is a landing point for more than 15 cables.

More than a dozen cables pass through the Red Sea, with the route a key connectivity artery between Asia and Europe. In recent years, companies have looked for potential alternatives that bypass the area – including overland via Israel.