The consortium behind the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable has selected Ciena to upgrade the approximately 17,000-km system, which connects 18 landing stations across Western Europe, West Africa and South Africa.
Ciena’s 6500 platform, powered by WaveLogic 6 Extreme, will increase the cable’s capacity to more than 30 Tb/s by replacing terminal equipment at landing stations, without changes to the cable’s undersea infrastructure. The agreement also includes Ciena’s Navigator network control software.
ACE Management Committee president Philippe Recco said stronger international connectivity is essential to economic growth, digital inclusion and cloud adoption across Africa.
Tech.Africa noted that the consortium did not disclose the system’s current capacity baseline. The upgrade also comes amid renewed attention to network resilience following cable cuts along Africa’s west coast in 2024 and 2026, which highlighted the region’s reliance on route diversity.
For broadcasters and streaming platforms operating across West Africa, additional international capacity could support higher-volume contribution links and help manage connectivity and CDN costs.
