First phase of Medusa subsea cable goes live between France and Tunisia

The first segment of the Medusa subsea cable has gone live, connecting France and Tunisia.

ViaTunisia, a segment of the Medusa subsea cable, has gone live. This branch connects Marseille in France and Bizerte in Tunisia.

Orange is the landing partner in France and Tunisia, and announced this week that the cable is ready for service. Tunisie Telecom is also a partner for the France-Tunisia branch.

The system landed in France and Tunisia late last year.

“This new segment of the Medusa system provides a direct, secure, and resilient route between Europe and North Africa, with enhanced access to the digital hub of Marseille and its interconnection capabilities to Europe,” said Michaël Trabbia, CEO of Orange Wholesale.

ViaTunisia was co-financed by the European Union under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Digital) program, covering 30 percent of the construction and management costs.

Once fully deployed, the 8,700km (5,405 miles) Medusa system will span 19 landing sites across Europe and North Africa.

First announced in 2022, the 24-fiber pair system is due to land in Spain , France , the Italian island of Sicily, Greece, and Cyprus. It is also due to land on Africa’s northern coast at multiple points across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia , and Libya .

Owned by AFR-IX Telecom, Medusa is set to run from the Carcavelos area of Lisbon in Portugal through the Mediterranean to Port Said, Egypt, and Aqaba, Jordan. An expansion to Syria is also planned.

An extension down the West African coast is also planned, landing in Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea.

Tunisia is already a landing point for the Peace , SeaMeWe-4, Didon, and Hannibal subsea systems.

Marseille is the landing point for more than a dozen subsea cables, with more planned in the coming years.