Paris, November 8, 2022 – Today, the 2Africa consortium, comprised of China Mobile International, Meta, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC, will be landing the 2Africa cable in Marseille, France. 2Africa, which will be the largest subsea cable project in the world, will connect 33 countries from 2023, delivering faster, more reliable internet service to each country where it lands and links three continents: Africa, Europe and Asia. The arrival in Marseille follows successful European landings in Genoa, Italy and Barcelona, Spain earlier this year.
Vodafone, the landing partner in Marseille, has partnered with the Port of Marseille Fos and Digital Realty, the world’s largest provider of carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions to telecom and cloud providers, to land the world’s longest submarine cable. With the landing of this cable, the city of Marseille strengthens its position as a data exchange hotspot and aims to become one of the top five Internet hubs internationally.
At 45,000 km, the 2Africa cable is set to become the longest submarine cable ever deployed. Carried by a consortium of international operators, the system will be operational in 2023 and will have a nominal capacity of up to 180 Tb/s and will comprise 16 fiber pairs. With the potential to connect more than three billion people across Africa, Europe and Asia, it should ultimately increase the economic potential of the African continent tenfold, promote data transfer and develop business opportunities.
With six future cable projects, Marseille continues to strengthen its pivotal role on the world map of data exchange. Thanks to its proximity to Africa, it is a natural gateway between the two continents. In addition to the performance of its facilities, the Port of Marseille Fos offers a high level of security to operators.
According to Hervé Martel, Chairman of the Board of the Port of Marseille Fos: “We’re excited to be a part of this global project, enabling connectivity to Africa. By hosting the world’s longest cable, we are confirming our position as a strategic logistic hub of choice for telecommunications operators. With this landing of 2Africa, the city of Marseille is continuing to progress to become one of the world’s top five digital hubs and the port will continue to put its expertise to work in support of the nation’s accelerating strategy for the cloud.”
With 15 submarine cables already in Marseille, accessible from the Digital Realty campus, the city has gone from being the 44th largest internet hub in the world to the 7th largest in the space of seven years.
Fabrice Coquio, SVP Digital Realty, President of Digital Realty France, says: “The landing of this 16th cable in Marseille underlines the importance of the city of Marseille in global digital exchanges and its privileged relationship with Africa. Digital Realty continues to support this development through the deployment of new data center capacity, including the latest, MRS4, in the port of Marseille Fos.”
About Digital Realty
Digital Realty supports the world’s leading enterprises and service providers by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers a trusted foundation and proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture PDx™ solution methodology for scaling digital business and efficiently managing data gravity challenges. Digital Realty’s global data center footprint gives customers access to the connected communities that matter to them with 300+ facilities in 50 metros across 27 countries on six continents. For more information, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
For Additional Information
Media Contacts
Claire Chadourne
Digital Realty France
+33 (0)6 99 20 90 85
clairec@digitalrealty.com
Emmanuelle Pionnier / Marie-Hélène Veillon
Oxygen RP
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Investor Relations
Jordan Sadler / Jim Huseby
Digital Realty
+1 737 281 0101
investorrelations@digitalrealty.com
About the port of Marseille Fos
A major stakeholder in international trade, located on two European transport corridors, the Port of Marseille Fos is the gateway to southern Europe. The synergy of its two harbours reinforces Marseille’s position as a local Mediterranean port for goods and passengers, while Fos is notable for its dynamism as a global port for industry and logistics, dedicated to major intercontinental flows. Today, as a global data hub with an ever-smarter approach to the region, as well as being the European leader in shore-to-ship power and LNG ship refuelling, the Port of Marseilles Fos is committed to sustainable economic growth through responsible and innovative industrial development fostering a circular economy. The dynamic projects in the two harbours confirm the Port of Marseilles Fos’s structuring role in mainland France and its development on the global port landscape.
www.marseille-port.fr
Press Contact: Coralie Beylot-Layens
Coralie.beylot-layens@marseille-port.fr
+33 4 91 39 53 24 / +33 6 07 94 70 73
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