Telecom Egypt targets launch of new subsea system circling Africa

Telecom Egypt targets launch of new subsea system circling Africa

Highly reliable terrestrial routes will connect landing points within South Africa, Europe, and Egypt, forming complete ring around Africa Telecom Egypt (TE), Egypt's first integrated telecom operator, has announced its plan to launch the Hybrid African Ring Path (HARP) by 2023. The project is a new subsea system that will circle around the African continent, forming the shape of a harp. It will connect coastal and landlocked African countries to Europe through the company's widespread terrestrial and subsea infrastructure. Through HARP, TE will offer a wide range of capacity solutions, up to dark fibre, based on a layer two and layer three architecture, which can connect multiple points on the system to one another. The system will connect Africa's eastern and western areas to Europe, from South Africa to Italy and France along the continent's East Coast, and to Portugal along its West Coast. Highly reliable terrestrial routes will connect the landing points within South Africa, Europe, and Egypt, forming a complete ring around the continent. The HARP system will leverage its diverse and resilient subsea segments to branch out to multiple potential landing points. The system's planned routes will cross Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, with multiple ring protection topologies, and