Sparkle, Italy’s leading international service provider, has successfully landed its BlueMed submarine cable in Chania, Crete. The announcement was made during a press conference at the Italian Ambassador’s Residence in Athens, attended by key figures including Paolo Cuculi, the Italian Ambassador, and Dimitris Papastergiou, Greece’s Minister of Digital Governance.
Countries across East and Southern Africa are grappling with a widespread internet outage caused by faults in several submarine cables. According to Cloudflare Radar, which tracks internet disruptions, Tanzania is among the hardest hit, experiencing a significant drop in internet traffic to only 30% of its normal levels.
Internet connectivity in West Africa is in a fragile state due to substantial damage to critical undersea cables resulting in limited or non-existent service in regions including Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Benin. The impact is reportedly extreme, with ripple effects reaching as far as South Africa. Telecom giants MTN and Vodafone linked the disruptions to these cable issues.
In a groundbreaking development, Cisco has announced the successful transmission of data at speeds of 800Gbps across the Amitié transatlantic cable. Stretching 6,234 kilometers from Boston, Massachusetts, to Bordeaux, France, this achievement marks a significant advancement in the capacity of subsea network cables, driven by the burgeoning demands of cloud computing and AI technologies.
In response to the soaring global demand for fast, secure connectivity, China Mobile International Limited (CMI) is significantly investing in four new submarine cable systems. These systems promise to robustly service the substantial growth in mobile data usage in quickly digitising regions such as Africa. However, as aging cables become outdated, the race is on for fresh investment to keep pace with customer needs and the rapid development of next-gen technologies.
In a significant step towards enhancing global digital infrastructure, Telecom Egypt and Hungary’s 4iG have officially agreed to collaborate on constructing a pioneering subsea cable directly linking Albania and Egypt. This groundbreaking initiative, originally outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding last October, marks the first time such a direct connection will be established between the two nations.
The SubOptic Foundation’s latest report shines light on the sustainable potential of subsea telecommunications cables, often underrepresented in sustainability discussions. With a detailed coverage of sustainable practices, the report explores CO2 emissions tracking, renewable energy utilization, recycling strategies and more.
The ambitious InSEA project, led by Italy’s INGV and financially backed by the Italian Ministry of Research, leverages traditional telecom cables for environmental monitoring, without compromising data quality. By integrating sensors into vast 21km cables and repeater housings, a remarkable SMART cable system was born. Despite deployment challenges, the use of advanced sensors ensured successful implementation. Initial data hints at successful system functioning, prompting anticipation for a comprehensive analysis following the monitoring phase.
In a major technological breakthrough, Nokia and Orange have announced the successful completion of an unprecedented 800Gbps per wavelength transmission over Orange’s acclaimed 6,600km Dunant transatlantic route. This milestone was achieved using Nokia’s PSE-6s super coherent optics integrated into the Nokia 1830 Photonic Services Interconnect – Modular (PSI-M). The groundbreaking trial, conducted under real-world network conditions, underscores Orange’s capability to enhance its existing optical network capacity, facilitating the support of end-to-end 400GE and cutting-edge 800GE services.
Bridging the gap between past and future, the Cayman Islands are preparing to modernise their underwater cable system, crucial for their international data traffic. Despite serving admirably for decades, the two existing cables are nearing their operational longevity. As such, a $1.69 million partnership with CMC aims to overhaul connectivity, counting on expertise from firms like WFN Strategies and SBM International.
