Facebook’s parent company Meta has currently put a halt to one of its major subsea internet cable projects in view of the ongoing military tension and security risks in the Middle East. This project named ‘2Africa’ is the world’s longest undersea cable project, which was being built to improve internet connectivity in the countries of Africa, Europe and Asia. Technical operations are being considered unsafe due to increasing tensions between America, Israel and Iran in the Middle East.
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What is the main reason for stopping the project and the latest situation?
Work on the Persian Gulf portion of the project, known as the ‘Pearls’ segment, has come to a complete halt. French cable laying company Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has invoked ‘Force Majeure’. This means that due to war and external circumstances the company is no longer able to fulfill the terms of the contract. Currently the cable laying ship ‘Ile De Batz’ is standing in the sea near Dammam, Saudi Arabia and is not able to move forward.
Main information related to this big project
Project Name 2Africa (Pearls Segment) Total Length 45,000 km Data Capacity up to 180 Tbps Affected Countries Qatar, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia Key Investors Meta, stc, China Mobile, Vodafone, Orange Alternative Investments $500 million land route project by Ooredoo
Stopping this project may slow down the expansion of high-speed internet in the Gulf countries. In view of the increasing danger in sea routes, Qatar’s telecom company Ooredoo has now started work on building a data corridor through land. The company has announced a $500 million investment to build a new route through Iraq and Turkey to avoid the risks of the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
What will be the impact on the general public and migrants?
More than 95 percent of the world’s Internet traffic travels through these undersea cables. Through this project, the capacity of data transfer between India, Pakistan and Gulf countries was to increase manifold. The work stoppage will delay major improvements in internet speed and connectivity. Experts say that until the situation in the military area becomes normal, it will not be possible to send ships and technical personnel there as it is a big risk to life and property.
