Transworld Associates (TWA) has announced it will land the 2Africa cable in Karachi, Pakistan.
At 45,000km, it is the world’s largest subsea cable network and will connect 33 countries with 46 landing points in Europe and Asia.
First announced in 2020, the consortium behind the cable is comprised of eight partners: China Mobile International, Baobab, center3, Meta, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC.
An extension to the original 2Africa cable, known as 2Africa Pearls, was announced in 2021, with plans for further landing points in Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, India, and Saudi Arabia.
China Mobile International and Meta are the consortium parties responsible for the Karachi portion of the cable. The pair have contracted Transworld Associates to operate and own the landing.
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is behind the deployment and manufacture of the 16-fiber pair, 180Tbps cable.
The laying of the East African portion started in late 2022 and landings on the west portion of the cable began in August 2023. Last month, a large portion of the cable connecting Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa went live.
Saad Muzaffar Waraich, president at Transworld Associates, said: “The 2Africa subsea cable is perfectly synchronized for hosting direct connectivity with global content providers.
“TWA will lead the development of the essential infrastructure for the carrier-neutral cable landing station and will manage the maintenance of the system for the foreseeable future. This initiative aligns with Pakistan’s vision of becoming a regional connectivity hub and is expected to boost the country’s digital economy.”
He added that the company plans to connect a Tier III-quality carrier-neutral data center, colocated at the telco’s cable landing station, to the 2Africa cable and other cable systems.
Ismail Shah, Meta’s head of connectivity policy for the Asia Pacific region, said: “Pakistan is set to experience increased capacity, ensuring more robust and resilient Internet services. Meta is happy to support 2Africa - we hope the strategic connectivity from this subsea cable system will pave the way for greater integration with global markets and facilitate the growth of digital services across the nation.”
Karachi is currently home to the SeaMeWe-3, 4, and 5 cables, with SeaMeWe-6 set to go live in 2025. The AAE-1, IMEWE, Peace, and Transworld-1 cables also land in the city.
Pakistani telco firm Transworld Associates was formed in a joint venture between Orastar Limited and Oman-based Omzest Group. The company owns the Transworld-1 cable, connecting Pakistan to the UAE and Oman.
Transworld Associates is also a consortium member of the SeaMeWe-5 submarine cable.
