According to DCD, the Medusa subsea cable has successfully landed in Bizerte, Tunisia, marking its second landing point following Marseille, France last month. The initial segment connecting Marseille with Bizerte and Nador, Morocco is expected to be operational between late October and December, with the full system going live in early 2026. The 8,700km cable system will eventually span 19 landing sites across Europe and North Africa, featuring segments with up to 24 fiber pairs each offering 20Tbps capacity. The €342 million project is funded by AFR-IX Telecom, Orange, and the European Union through the Connecting Europe Facility program, with Orange and Tunisie Telecom serving as landing partners for the France-Tunisia branch. This development signals a major infrastructure shift that warrants deeper analysis of its market implications.
Sponsored content — provided for informational and promotional purposes.
Strategic Connectivity Realignment
The Medusa cable represents a fundamental restructuring of Mediterranean digital infrastructure that challenges existing connectivity patterns. Traditional subsea routes have often treated North Africa as an afterthought, with most major cables prioritizing European hubs or transatlantic crossings. Medusa’s deliberate focus on linking Portugal through multiple North African landing points creates what amounts to a digital Mediterranean ring road. This European Union co-financing through the Connecting Europe Facility indicates strategic recognition that North Africa’s digital economy can no longer be served by indirect routing through European hubs alone.
Capacity Revolution for Underserved Markets
The technical specifications of Medusa represent a quantum leap for North African connectivity markets. With segments featuring 24 fiber pairs at 20Tbps each, the cable delivers nearly 500Tbps of potential capacity per segment—orders of magnitude beyond what’s currently available to many North African nations. This capacity injection will fundamentally alter pricing dynamics and service availability across the region. Countries like Tunisia and Morocco, which have historically paid premium prices for international bandwidth due to limited submarine options, will see dramatic cost reductions that could accelerate digital transformation initiatives and make cloud services more accessible to local businesses.
Competitive Reshuffling Ahead
The entry of Medusa creates significant disruption potential in the Mediterranean telecom landscape. Orange’s dual role as both investor and landing partner in France and Tunisia positions the company as a major beneficiary, potentially allowing it to leverage this infrastructure advantage across its African operations. Meanwhile, incumbent providers in North Africa face both threat and opportunity—the cable creates new wholesale competition but also enables them to offer enhanced services. The planned extensions to West Africa, including the AFR-IX Telecom arrangement with ACE for Gabon landing, suggest Medusa could eventually challenge the dominance of established West African cables like SAT-3 and Main One.
Digital Economy Catalyst
Beyond immediate telecom impacts, Medusa’s true significance lies in its potential to accelerate digital economic development across North Africa. The cable’s timing coincides with massive cloud infrastructure expansion by hyperscalers and growing demand for digital services across the region. Countries along the route now have the infrastructure foundation to develop as potential regional data hub locations, attracting content delivery networks, cloud regions, and digital services that previously bypassed the area due to connectivity constraints. This could stimulate local tech ecosystems and position North Africa as a more attractive destination for digital investment, particularly for services targeting both European and African markets.
Execution and Expansion Challenges
Despite the ambitious vision, Medusa faces significant implementation hurdles that could affect its market impact. The timeline extending to 2026 for full deployment leaves room for competitive responses from existing cable operators. The planned expansion to conflict-affected regions like Syria and Libya introduces geopolitical complexities that could delay segments or affect routing decisions. Additionally, the cable’s success will depend not just on physical infrastructure but on the development of open access policies and competitive wholesale markets in landing countries—factors that have historically constrained submarine cable benefits in some African markets. The Orange partnership structure will need careful management to ensure the cable delivers on its potential as a regional development tool rather than simply reinforcing existing market positions.
