English (UK) 
简体中文(中国) Orange and MainOne Cable Company announced on Wednesday that they have signed an agreement allowing for a major investment by Orange in the MainOne submarine cable system. to construct two new branches and stations connecting the MainOne cable to Dakar in Senegal and Abidjan in the Côte d’Ivoire by mid-2019. Through this partnership Orange will acquire additional capacity, thereby reinforcing its position in the African telecommunications ecosystem.
MainOne cable system comprises a 7,000km submarine cable, landing in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal. MainOne cable system was launched for service in 2010.
The partnership between Orange and MainOne Company will provide for the construction and installation of two new branches and stations. These will connect the cable to Dakar in Senegal and Abidjan in the Côte d’Ivoire by mid-2019.
Orange will be the owner of the cable station in Dakar. Orange’s investment represents a major milestone for this project.
MainOne secured C1B license in Cote d’Ivoire in April. The C1B license enables MainOne land its MainOne submarine cable and build transmission infrastructure in Cote d’Ivoire.
Orange Marine, a 100% subsidiary of the Orange Group, has been chosen to manage the installation of these two new branches.
Thanks to this new cable connection, local populations will benefit from better connectivity, lower prices and access to new services. Orange will benefit from multiple Terabits per second of additional bandwidth for the development of fixed and mobile data in Africa. More specifically, this cable extension is an opportunity to improve connectivity and offer a broader range of services for both Orange Côte d’Ivoire & Sonatel. In addition, MainOne offers an alternative route that guarantees the protection of voice and data traffic passing through the other cables in the area – SAT3, WASC, SAFE and ACE.
Through this new partnership, Orange confirms its position as a leading player in the submarine cable market and strengthen its presence with new significant assets in West Africa. And Orange aims to secure and improve direct access to high-speed broadband services in two of its most important markets in West Africa, Senegal and the Côte d’Ivoire.
Through this new partnership, MainOne expects to continue its lead in the digital transformation of West Africa by investing in affordable connectivity to drive economic development. MainOne's objective is to bridge the digital divide between and within West Africa and the rest of the world, liberalize the international bandwidth market in the region, further support Orange and other wholesale customers, and ultimately result in improved digital services in the region.
