Facebook working with China Mobile to bring undersea internet to Africa in $1 Billion deal

Facebook has joined a partnership with China Mobile and other entities to construct a undersea cable to connect Africa with higher-speed and more reliable broadband internet, Bloomberg reports. The 2Africa project is valued at around $1 billion U.S. dollars.

Bloomberg News was first to report the deal in detail today, and the article is paywalled.

In addition to China Mobile and Facebook, the 2Africa project membership includes Vodacom, Vodafone, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, and WIOCC, to build 2Africa, which is promoted as being “the most comprehensive subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East region.”

Vodacom has partnered with Vodafone, China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, and WIOCC, to build 2Africa, which will be the most comprehensive subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East region. https://t.co/eMpvQWlRxg pic.twitter.com/JYmZMm0Buz

— Vodacom (@Vodacom) May 14, 2020

#2Africa is expected to come into operation by 2024 and will deliver more than the combined capacity of all sub-sea cables serving #Africa. @Facebook #China https://t.co/Z9N6j6mlv8

— Daniel Schearf (@DanielSSchearf) May 14, 2020

The Facebook-, China Telecom-, Vodafone- and MTN-backed cable system called 2Africa will have three landing stations in South Africa, including the first-ever cable landing station in the Eastern Cape https://t.co/6mg7qaQMct pic.twitter.com/BYMs7IwPBs

— Duncan McLeod (@mcleodd) May 14, 2020

Helluva thing this. 180Tbit/s design capacity. Backers include Facebook, China Mobile, MTN and Vodafone. Simba reborn? cc @stevesong https://t.co/oBVKUvUz8v

— Duncan McLeod (@mcleodd) May 14, 2020

Facebook has partnered with China Mobile and others to build a undersea cable to help bring more reliable and faster internet to Africa, sources say for ~$1B (Bloomberg)https://t.co/pPlWaPcUidhttps://t.co/WZyjuFVNdL

— Techmeme (@Techmeme) May 14, 2020