Orange has announced that its ViaTunisia subsea cable segment, which links Marseille, France, to Bizerte, Tunisia, has officially achieved Ready for Service (RFS) status. This milestone marks the cable’s transition from construction to full operation, establishing a direct route between Europe and North Africa.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the telecommunications company revealed that this subsea segment, partly funded by the European Union (EU) through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, is now prepared to handle live traffic across the Mediterranean.
The path to achieving RFS status began well before the cable submerged into the sea. Designed as a point-to-point system with a 25-year lifespan, ViaTunisia underwent several critical phases, including marine surveys, factory acceptance tests, cable loading, laying, shore landings, and final splicing.
The funding agreement, signed in December 2022, covers 30% of the project’s construction and management expenses.
Marine installation was carried out by Orange Marine’s Sophie Germain and Elettra TLC’s cable ship, Teliri, under the coordination of Elettra TLC. Alcatel Submarine Networks provided the system design and equipment necessary for the project.
Orange emphasised that this investment reflects the EU’s dedication to enhancing digital connectivity and supporting the escalating data traffic driven by digital transformation and artificial intelligence. It also paves the way for new opportunities in digital services, investment, and innovation.
Furthermore, ViaTunisia integrates directly with Orange’s global infrastructure in Marseille through a resilient urban fibre ring. This connection links all data centres in the city, enabling seamless interconnection and distribution of international capacity across Europe.
By combining reliability, security, and high performance, ViaTunisia strengthens Marseille’s position as a premier interconnection hub, delivering direct, high-capacity connectivity between North Africa and the global digital landscape. It also diversifies routing options in the region, especially in areas prone to natural disasters, thereby reducing outages caused by cable failures and enhancing overall network resilience.
