Facebook is teaming up with telecoms companies to build a 37,000km (23,000-mile) undersea cable to supply faster internet to 16 countries in Africa.
Its length – almost equal to the circumference of the Earth – will make it one of the longest, it said.
It is part of a long-running bid by Facebook to take its social media platform to Africa’s young population.
Ready for use by 2024, it will deliver three times the capacity of all current undersea cables serving Africa.
To read this report in full, see:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52676253
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Facebook, telcos plan subsea cable to connect Africa, Middle East and Europe
Facebook and a team of African and global telecom majors have struck a deal to build one of the world’s largest subsea cable networks, boosting internet availability across three continents, they said in a joint statement on Thursday.
South Africa’s MTN GlobalConnect and Mauritius-based infrastructure provider WIOCC are partners in the project, along with China Mobile International, French telecoms major Orange SA, Saudi Arabia’s stc, Telecom Egypt, and Vodafone.
To read more, see:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-internet-idUSKBN22Q2JS