Didon submarine cable will connect Tunisia to Europe

A new submarine fiber-optic cable will use technology from Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) to boost the capacity and reliability of Tunisia’s international connections and meet the growing demand for broadband services in the country.

Tunisiana and Orange Tunisia have signed a partnership agreement with Interoute for the commissioning of the submarine cable, called Didon, which will connect the city of Kélibia, Tunisia to Interoute’s pan European fiber-optic network, via its landing station in Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, Italy.

As Tunisia’s first private submarine cable, the 170-km long cable Didon will be a real force for social development and economic growth for the country, the partners claim. The commissioning of the Didon cable is planned for April 2014 and its capacity will reach 8 Tbps for each operator. The new cable will use Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine optical transport technology and will be capable of handling data speeds of 100 Gbps.

Tunisia has one of the most modern broadband infrastructures in the Mediterranean basin with high-speed terrestrial and undersea links providing a fully digitalized network that provides an international gateway to broader global networks. Local operators Tunisiana and Orange Tunisia offer a wide range of mobile and fixed applications ranging from Internet-on-the-go-to information and entertainment services for more than 9 million subscribers. The signing of this agreement is part of the national initiative to support and strengthen the ICT sector and offer Tunisians improved access to international broadband networks at reduced rates.

Ken Campbell, CEO of Tunisiana commented, “The Didon cable will provide increased capacity and better service to the 7 million consumers and businesses that rely on Tunisiana. This investment is also a testament to our belief in the potential for growth in Tunisia as a hub for the region.”

Philippe Dumont, president of Alcatel-Lucent submarine networks, said, “Good broadband communication infrastructure can energize economic growth, opening up new opportunities and increasing the reliability for e-commerce and e-government applications. The deployment of this new network will give a further boost to capacity and traffic protection in the Mediterranean hub

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