Telecom Egypt and Budapest-based telecoms/IT group 4iG have formally established a joint venture to build their proposed express subsea cable between Albania and Egypt.
The two companies signed an agreement on the terms of cooperation for the construction of the cable, which aims to create a high capacity, intercontinental connection linking Africa and Asia (through the Red Sea) to Europe, via Egypt, the Mediterranean, and Albania.
This follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Telecom Egypt and 4iG last October.
The initial configuration of the subsea cable will include a branch to Italy, with the option to extend the cable to Mediterranean destinations such as Libya, Cyprus, and Greece.
Both ends of the cable will be designed with an open point-of-presence concept, which means the Egyptian end will provide access to various subsea cables running southeast via the Red Sea to Asia and Africa, as well as over ten terrestrial trans-Egypt routes connecting the Mediterranean cable segment to other cable extension options in the Red Sea.
On Albania’s end, the system will provide the shortest path to Frankfurt, as well as other international traffic destinations in Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans, including Sofia, Vienna and Budapest.
As we previously reported, the Albania-Egypt system will leverage open and neutral ecosystem WeConnect as an enabler, ensuring seamless cross-connection with multiple subsea systems and offering customers robust connectivity solutions and access to Egypt’s infrastructure.
4iG Group chairman Gellért Jászai said the agreement will enable the company to accelerate its growth and competitiveness in international markets.
“Our strong market presence in Albania gives us the opportunity to make the additional onshore investments necessary for the success of the project and to open a new data gateway to Europe in cooperation with Telecom Egypt,” he said.
Mohamed Nasr, MD and CEO at Telecom Egypt, said the new cable will add more diversity to its Mediterranean network and cater to the booming growth in international data traffic coming from Asia and Africa to Europe.
Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, who witnessed the signing, said the most important feature of JV is that it comes within the framework of the Egyptian government’s strategy to target the Eastern Europe region to enhance business continuity and future expansion.
“Egypt is keen to expand its international digital infrastructure, especially given that more than 90% of the international data traffic between the East and the West passes through the country thanks to its distinguished geographical location - with 14 international subsea cables currently in service,” he said is a statement. “Work is underway to establish another five international subsea cables through international alliances.”