Bringing high-speed internet to 36% of the total population
Facebook announced its plan of constructing an undersea web cable called 2Africa in May 2020 which was supposed to span 22,900 miles across the ocean floor. Now some changes have been made and an addition of a new leg to the undersea cable was announced and the cable is expected to run a total of 27,961 miles now.
According to a press release by Facebook, the cable which was initially connecting 23 countries in Africa, Middle East and Europe has now been expanded with the addition of 2Africa Pearls leg to include India and Pakistan as well.
The 2Africa project was developed in collaboration with a number of global telecom companies is actually part of Facebook’s campaign to create an “open and inclusive internet ecosystem” and “bring people online to a faster internet.” The new undersea web cable will bring much-needed reliability and fast internet speed to Africa where only 1.3 billion people have access to the internet as of now. The cable was initially designed to cater to 1.2 billion people but now after the news of the addition, its capacity has increased to serve a total of 3 billion people.
Recently, Google also finished laying its 3,900 miles Grace Hopper subsea internet cable which stretches from New York to the UK and Spain through the Atlantic Ocean. And now Facebook has also joined the race for laying miles of undersea cable to provide internet to billions around the world. The 2Africa cable, which will be made from aluminum has been allowed for a 50% increase in burial depth, ensuring maximum redundancy and availability while also steering clear of subsea locations which might become a hindrance afterwards.