Egypt and Jordan to set up first sub-sea optic fibre cable

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Egypt and Jordan have agreed to set up their first joint submarine optic fibre cable in 25 years.

The so-called “Coral Bridge” will serve as a vital communication link between Aqaba in Jordan and Taba in Egypt, Ahram Online reported.

The deal to install the submarine cable, spanning the Gulf of Aqaba, was signed between Telecom Egypt (WE), Egypt’s first integrated telecommunications operator and one of the largest submarine cable operators in the region, and NaiTel, a telecommunications service provider in Jordan and the communication arm of the Aqaba Digital Hub.

Mohamed Nasr, the CEO of Telecom Egypt, said the name Coral Bridge was chosen because of the distinctive coral reefs of the Gulf of Aqaba.

The cost of the project cost was not given.

Egypt’s communication and information technology minister, Amr Talaat, said in October last year that the country had invested more than $600 million in developing the network of internet submarine cables.

Telecom Egypt announced last May the completion of the second and final landing in Egypt of the 2Africa subsea internet cable, which is the world’s longest undersea communications cable.