Telecom Egypt (TE) and Aqua Comms — a leading provider of global subsea connectivity services — announced the signing of a crossing and landing agreement for the Europe Middle East India Connect 1 (EMIC-1) subsea cable in Egypt.
Under this agreement, TE will provide EMIC-1 — which is a new intercontinental subsea cable and terrestrial fibre system — a seamless optical path between East Africa, Asia, and Europe.
This is the first modern cable along this route, connecting up to 3bn people to the internet and accommodating for the growing demand for data in the world’s fastest growing regions.
The EMIC-1 helps D9 — the owner of Aqua Comms — to fulfil its purpose: To improve connectivity around the world and bridge the digital divide.
The cable will land in Ras Ghareb on the Red Sea and Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea’s side. The two landing stations will connect over two diverse terrestrial routes, deploying the next generation of fibre optics.
The new routes will be adjacent to the Suez Canal, between Suez and Port Said to be specific. Additionally, this crossing will also include a third new marine path — the Red Sea Festoon — which will link the Ras Ghareb and Suez landing stations with an option of the Suez Canal Route (a.k.a. the Al-Morshedeen route), linking Port Said and Suez on the bank of the Suez Canal and offering a new level of resilience and diversity to the crossing solution.
Managing Director and CEO of TE Adel Hamed commented: “For years, we have established tangible steps to revamp our international infrastructure and increase our assets’ geodiversity to keep pace with the rising global demand for large bandwidth and global reach. We believe that EMIC-1 will be a valuable addition to the subsea cables landing in Egypt.”
For his part, CEO of Aqua Comms Nigel Bayliff said: “We are delighted to work with TE to deliver a highly resilient and innovative solution that will be a critical part of our new EMIC-1 system. This new system will connect the key hubs in Europe of Genoa, Marseille, and Barcelona with both Oman’s Salalah and India’s Mumbai, serving these high-growth markets with the best-in-class connectivity services.”
