REG - Telecom Egypt S.A.E - Port Said Landing: Final 2Africa Segment in Egypt

Telecom Egypt Co SAEAnnouncement

10/05/2023 07:45

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RNS Number : 9209Y  Telecom Egypt S.A.E  10 May 2023

2Africa Subsea Cable Segment in Egypt Completed with Port Said Landing

May 10, 2023: Within its continuous efforts to enhance its value proposition,
Telecom Egypt, Egypt's first integrated telecom operator and one of the
largest subsea cables operators in the region, announces the recent successful
landing of the 2Africa subsea cable in Port Said. This milestone marks the
second and final 2Africa landing in Egypt, coming five months after the first
landing in the Red Sea city of Ras Ghareb. The landing in Port Said also marks
the completion of 2Africa installations on Egyptian territory. It is worth
mentioning that Telecom Egypt completed 2Africa's terrestrial crossing in
Egypt ahead of schedule in 2020; meanwhile, in October 2022, it concluded the
third marine path connecting the Ras Ghareb and Suez landing stations.

Since its early deployment of telegraph subsea cables connecting Africa,
Europe, and Asia about 150 years ago, Egypt has been the most reliable and
trusted hub linking the three continents. In addition to this well-established
history in the subsea cable industry, Telecom Egypt capitalizes on the
nation's extensive coastlines on both the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea
(1,941km and 995 km, respectively), giving it a competitive advantage in
providing a geodiverse, uniform integral system via an ever-expanding
international network.

 

Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Telecom Egypt,
commented:

 

"I'm pleased to be working with a team of top-notch professionals to pursue
Telecom Egypt's relentless efforts to strengthen its international
infrastructure. Today, we are thrilled to announce that 2Africa has been
connected to the Port Said station, our latest and final milestone in linking
the world's longest subsea cable to Egypt. Our contribution to the
international submarine infrastructure demonstrates our commitment to offering
state-of-the-art solutions to partners and customers both locally and
internationally. In the coming phase, we aim to realize more of our potential
as we work on new initiatives and roll out cutting-edge products that will
take the ICT industry to the next level."

 

Seif Mounib, Vice President for International and Wholesale at Telecom Egypt,
commented:

"At Telecom Egypt, the deployment of a subsea system is not merely a
commercial transaction. As such, landing a cable does not mark the end of the
process; it ushers in a long-term partnership that lasts 25 years or more to
ensure the secure lifetime operation of the cable. The company's success
stories over the years are a testament to this--in addition to being the
subsea cable deployment partner of choice for more than 160 major subsea cable
players. To date, Telecom Egypt has invested in cable landing stations and a
total of 5,300km crossing routes. Meanwhile, the company's numerous
infrastructure projects aim to increase the robustness of the global
high-density traffic routes, enabling its partners to grow, meet their
communications needs, and ensure low-cost network ownership."

Paul Gabla, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Alcatel Submarine
Networks, commented:

"Having worked with Telecom Egypt for decades to mutually serve the telecom
community in laying subsea systems along Egypt's coasts, we have witnessed the
speedy improvement in their cycle of permits, approvals and landing-related
logistics. In addition to Egypt's privileged geo-location and its large
territory bridging two main submarine cable routes, Telecom Egypt complements
those enabling natural factors with its vast experience in landing subsea
systems and a team of dedicated and skilled professionals capable of tackling
and overcoming any potential operational challenges."

Launched in May 2020 by a consortium of firms - Telecom Egypt, Meta, China
Mobile International, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, center3 (stc), Vodafone and
WIOCC - and with the contracting of Alcatel Submarine Networks ("ASN") to
build the cable, the 2Africa subsea cable system is designed to deliver
seamless international connectivity solutions and boost internet connectivity,
linking Africa with the rest of the world. It further enhances Egypt's
position as a key international hub for global communication networks.

2Africa lands in two carefully-chosen sites in Egypt: on the Red Sea, it lands
at the Ras Ghareb landing site, located 100km south of the Zafarana cable
landing station, whereas the Mediterranean landing site, Port Said, is located
250km east of the Alexandria landing station. Both landing stations will
connect via two terrestrial trans-Egypt routes adjacent to the Suez Canal. The
crossing solution, deployed with next-generation fibre technology, will offer
seamless optical paths between Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is complemented
with the subsea festoon in the Red Sea on Telecom Egypt's Red2Med cable
system, which connects the Red Sea landing stations of Ras Ghareb, Zafarana,
and Suez adding an extra layer of diversity to the crossing.

Upon completion in 2024, 2Africa will be one of the world's largest subsea
cable projects interconnecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. The 45,000km system
will deliver more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables
serving Africa today. With its 16 fibre-pairs' count and a design capacity of
up to 180Tbps, 2Africa will connect 33 countries through 46 landings,
ultimately enhancing global connectivity, and facilitating communications for
over 3 billion people over fast, secure, cost-efficient routes. It will
deliver much needed internet capacity and reliability across large parts of
Africa, supplement the fast-growing capacity demand in the Middle East, and
underpin the further growth of 4G, 5G and fixed broadband access.

As part of the 2Africa consortium, Telecom Egypt reaffirms its commitment to
driving digital inclusion and development in Africa by increasing access to
high quality internet services and investing in the network infrastructure to
seamlessly match traffic between Africa, Asia, and Europe. It further
highlights the global trust in Telecom Egypt's infrastructure, which carries
90% of the international traffic crossing the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

- End -

 

About Telecom Egypt

 

Telecom Egypt is the first integrated telecom operator in Egypt providing all
telecom services to its customers including fixed and mobile voice and data
services. Telecom Egypt has a long history serving Egyptian customers for over
160 years maintaining a leadership position in the Egyptian telecom market by
offering its enterprise and consumer customers the most advanced technology,
reliable infrastructure solutions and the widest network of submarine
cables.  Aside from its mobile operation "WE", the company owns a 45% stake
in Vodafone Egypt. Telecom Egypt's shares and GDRs (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN)
are traded on The Egyptian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Please
refer to Telecom Egypt's full financial disclosure on ir.te.eg
(https://ir.te.eg/)

 

For more information, contact:

The investor relations team

Email: investor.relations@te.eg (mailto:investor.relations@te.eg)

 

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