Telecom Egypt and SubCom announce completion of IEX subsea cable landings in Egypt

Telecom Egypt, the state-owned telecommunications provider in Egypt, in collaboration with SubCom, a leading supplier of subsea data communication systems, has successfully completed the landings of the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) cable system within Egypt. This new system not only connects two continents—Asia and Europe—but also bridges two critical bodies of water, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, through two separate routes traversing Egyptian territory.

The IEX system is set to directly link Mumbai, India, with Milan, Italy, in Europe. Telecom Egypt has highlighted that this direct connection will enhance network diversity and support the provision of advanced, high-capacity telecommunications services.

This development comes in the wake of an incident in February 2024, when Seacom, another telecommunications entity specializing in subsea cables, reported an outage in their cable system located in the Red Sea. This disruption impacted the cable segment that runs from Mombasa, Kenya, to Zafarana, Egypt.

The newly established subsea system by Telecom Egypt and SubCom has made landfall at two Egyptian cable landing stations: Zafarana2 on the shores of the Red Sea and Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean coast.

Telecom Egypt, which boasts over five decades of experience in delivering retail telecommunication services domestically, has indicated that its contribution to the IEX project involves ensuring the efficient and effective management of local permits, approvals, and logistics related to the cable landing process.

Furthermore, Telecom Egypt has pointed out that the design of the new cable segments incorporates 13 fiber pairs, each engineered for high-capacity data transmission, signifying a significant upgrade to the region’s telecommunications infrastructure.

Telecom Egypt has further announced that it will be providing essential landing facilities and operational support for the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) within Egypt, as well as facilitating new terrestrial crossings between strategic locations.

SubCom, the supplier for the project, is tasked with the engineering, manufacturing, and deployment of the IEX system, which spans approximately 10,000 kilometers. The system will incorporate SubCom’s cutting-edge space-division multiplexing (SDM) technology and Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS) Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) technologies, enhancing the capacity and flexibility of the network.

The IEX subsea system is notable for being the fifth new system to land in Egypt over the past ten years, and it represents the tenth landing overall. This project marks the first time that the Sidi Kerir landing station has been utilized for such a purpose, and it is the fourth time for the Zafarana 2 station.

Mohamed Nasr, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Egypt, emphasized the significance of these projects, stating that they are part of Telecom Egypt’s strategic efforts to diversify its service offerings and strengthen its position as a key international telecommunications hub in the region.

In a related development, Telecom Egypt entered into a partnership with 4iG in February 2024 to construct an express subsea cable system connecting Albania to Egypt. This collaboration originated from a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in October 2023, which established a joint venture dedicated to this intercontinental subsea cable project.