CAIRO: Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cables operators in the region, signed an agreement with Google to provide Google with the first of its kind layer three meshed solution on multiple Telecom Egypt’s redundant and resilient Egypt crossing network infrastructure.
As part of the agreement, Google will also be provided capacity on Telecom Egypt’s Mediterranean submarine cable, TE North. The project is expected to go live in the first half of 2021.
This mesh project connects several cable landing stations in the Red and Mediterranean Seas over diverse routes and will increase the reliability of Google’s international transit traffic, providing an elevated level of robustness. Telecom Egypt’s network can reroute traffic as needed in less than 50 milliseconds, and will also offer high quality availability features with an SLA portal.
Adel Hamed, TE’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “It is our sincere pleasure to work with Google and support its mission to increase the reliability of its traffic regionally. This agreement comes in line with our strategy to solidify Egypt’s position as an eminent digital hub that connects continents using Telecom Egypt’s resilient, multi-routed, and low-latency mesh network that spans the Mediterranean Sea, crosses Egypt, and extends to Singapore.”
Seif Mounib TE’s VP for International & Wholesale, commented: “We are delighted with our cooperation with Google that came in result of our continuous efforts to upgrade our network. Despite the hardships brought about by the global pandemic in 2020, we succeeded to enhance our international IP transit infrastructure, to better serve our global customers. This year, we built two landing stations connected over diverse terrestrial routes, bringing the total to 10 stations in the Red and Mediterranean Seas, and 10 terrestrial crossing routes across Egypt.”
Mark Sokol, Senior Director of EMEA Infrastructure at Google Cloud, said: “We are pleased to have signed this agreement with Telecom Egypt, as it will enhance Google’s global network resilience via Egypt and we look forward to a continued mutually beneficial engagement.”
Hisham El Nazer, Google Egypt’s Country Manager, said: “With internet penetration accelerating rapidly in Egypt, enhancing the capacity of transit traffic will unlock significant usage potential. We thrive to offer our users a better experience through improved connectivity in Egypt, and across the globe.”
Telecom Egypt offers the global telecom community access to abundant international capacities with the lowest latency and the shortest, most efficient protected path from Africa and Asia to Europe, building on Egypt’s distinctive geography at the heart of the world, and Telecom Egypt’s continuous and extensive network revamps.
The company’s advanced infrastructure and its capabilities has led it to become the partner-of-choice for many international telecom players over the years.
Additionally, Telecom Egypt is working on multiple layers of its infrastructure diversity, such as establishing new subsea landing stations and crossing routes as well as investing in new subsea systems and solutions that will cater for the wave of global demand for international capacities. To maintain the high level of service availability, Telecom Egypt has developed its mesh network solutions that span the Mediterranean Sea, cross Egypt, and extend all the way to Singapore.
Telecom Egypt is the first total telecom operator in Egypt providing all telecom services to its customers including fixed and mobile voice and data services. Telecom Egypt has a long history serving Egyptian customers for over 160 years maintaining a leadership position in the Egyptian telecom market by offering its enterprise and consumer customers the most advanced technology, reliable infrastructure solutions and the widest network of submarine cables.
Aside from its mobile operation “WE”, the company owns a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt. Telecom Egypt’s shares and GDRs (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN) are traded on The Egyptian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. ir.te.eg
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