Unitel, the Angolan mobile operator, made the landing of the Submarine Cable, 2Africa (Two Africa), on the seafront of the Municipality of Cacuaco, in Luanda, on July 30. Unitel is the landing partner and the only Angolan operator that joined the 2Africa consortium.
Also Read: 2Africa Subsea Cable Lands at Port Said in Egypt
Expanding International Connectivity
The 2Africa Submarine cable system, with a length of more than 45,000 km, was designed to provide continuous international connectivity to approximately 3 billion people, representing 36 percent of the global population, and connecting 3 continents: Africa, Europe, and Asia.
The world's largest subsea cable, 2Africa spanning 45,000km, will establish connectivity between 33 countries and feature 46 landing points across Africa, Europe, and Asia upon its completion. Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has been entrusted with the task of manufacturing and deploying this 16-fiber pair, 180 Tbps cable, which is due for completion in 2024.
Also Read: WIOCC Lands 2Africa Subsea Cable System in Kwazulu-Natal
2Africa consortium
The 2Africa consortium comprises eight international partners, namely China Mobile International, Meta, Bayobab (Until May 2023, the company was known as MTN GlobalConnect as reported by TelecomTalk), Orange, center3 (stc), Telecom Egypt, Vodafone/Vodacom, and WIOCC.
Also Read: MTN GlobalConnect Rebrands as Bayobab, Paving the Way for African Digital Connectivity
Unitel, Angolan Mobile Operator
Unitel is the largest mobile operator in Angola. The landing marks the first major part of the West African side of the 2Africa cable, which begins at MTN’s Yzerfontein landing station in South Africa.
Also Read: 2Africa Subsea Cable Lands in Jeddah and Yanbu
In October 2022, the Angolan State completed the nationalization of Unitel by acquiring 50 percent stakes from private companies Vidatel and Geni, which represented 25 percent equity each. This transaction raised the Angolan State's ownership of Unitel to 100 percent.
Unitel is also one of the five shareholders of Angola Cables, established in 2009 as a wholesale network operator and a joint venture of five Angolan operators: Angola Telecom (51 percent), Unitel (31 percent), MSTelcom (9 percent), Movicel (6 percent), and Startel (3 percent).
