- Sparkle and Algérie Telecom activate a new subsea cable linking Algeria and Italy to boost cross-Med connectivity.
- The cable strengthens Algeria’s global internet access and supports rising demand for high-capacity, low-latency routes.
What happened: New cable links Algeria and Italy
Telecom Italia Sparkle and Algérie Telecom have announced the activation of a new subsea cable linking Annaba, Algeria to Palermo, Italy. The new cable system will enhance Algeria’s international connectivity and provide direct access to Sparkle’s global backbone, Seabone. Designed to support growing bandwidth demand and strengthen redundancy across the Mediterranean, the system spans roughly 1,000km and utilises advanced transmission technologies.
Also Read: SEACOM: Africa’s pioneering subsea cable & ICT provider
Also Read: AUG East subsea cable to revolutionise East Asia connectivity
Why this is important
The launch of the Annaba–Palermo subsea cable is part of a broader trend in Mediterranean connectivity, as countries and operators respond to rising digital demand and geopolitical shifts in internet traffic routing. By establishing direct, high-capacity links between North Africa and Southern Europe, the cable helps address a long-standing imbalance in African internet infrastructure, which has often relied on indirect or outdated routes.
Sparkle’s role as a major carrier in the region—and its continued investments in strategic landing points—underscores a growing emphasis on resilient, low-latency infrastructure as a competitive differentiator. For Algeria, the new system bolsters its ambitions to become a digital gateway between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, offering alternative paths for data to flow between continents amid increasing global traffic.
The deployment also complements initiatives such as the Medusa and Blue-Raman cables, pointing to an emerging ecosystem of multi-path subsea systems designed for redundancy and geopolitical agility. With regional data demand expected to surge over the next decade, infrastructure like this will become critical to ensuring inclusive access, cloud expansion, and economic growth.
