Telecom Egypt announces availability of 40G Mediterranean undersea cable

Egyptian telco, Telecom Egypt and Alcatel-Lucent have announced that the TE-North Cable System, provisioned with 40 Gigabit per second (40G) wavelengths across the Mediterranean, is in service. TE-North is the first Mediterranean cable network to provide commercial service using this newest 40G technology.

The 3600km system connects Abu Talat, Egypt, to Marseille, France, with a branch to Pentaskhinos, Cyprus and also includes other branching units for further expansions in the Mediterranean basin. The introduction of this advanced technology essentially doubles the original design capacity of the system from 10 Terabits per second to over 20 Terabits per second, equivalent to the transfer of over 32,000 HD movies in 60 seconds.

TE-North’s expanded design capacity enables Telecom Egypt to meet the growing demand of its customers and the region on this important international telecommunications route. By boosting connectivity across the Mediterranean basin, the 40G technology enhances Telecom Egypt’s ability to serve global operators whose international services transit Egypt and rely on Egypt to hub the services in the Middle East, Asia and Africa region.