According to DCD, the Medusa subsea cable has successfully landed in Bizerte, Tunisia, marking its second landing point after Marseille, France last month. The €342 million project, funded by AFR-IX Telecom, Orange, and the European Union, will span 8,700km with 19 landing sites across Europe and North Africa when fully deployed by early 2026. The system features segments with up to 24 fiber pairs offering 20Tbps capacity each, with initial segments connecting Marseille to Bizerte and Nador, Morocco expected between late October and December. The cable is co-financed by the EU through the Connecting Europe Facility program under AFR-IX’s ATMED projects, with Orange serving as landing partner in both France and Tunisia alongside Tunisie Telecom. This strategic infrastructure project represents a significant advancement in Mediterranean digital connectivity.
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The Geopolitical Calculus Behind EU Funding
The European Union’s substantial investment in Medusa through the Connecting Europe Facility program reveals a strategic pivot toward digital infrastructure as foreign policy. Unlike purely commercial cable projects, Medusa serves dual purposes: creating reliable digital corridors between Europe and North Africa while reducing dependency on existing routes that often bypass key Mediterranean markets. The timing is particularly significant given Europe’s broader Global Gateway initiative, which positions digital infrastructure as central to international partnerships. By co-financing this cable, the EU gains influence over routing decisions and ensures connectivity reaches strategic partners in North Africa rather than following purely commercial logic that might prioritize more profitable routes.
Orange’s Multi-Market Dominance Play
Orange’s role as landing partner in both France and Tunisia demonstrates the telecom giant’s sophisticated multi-market strategy. By controlling key landing stations at both ends of the France-Tunisia segment, Orange positions itself as the essential intermediary for traffic between these markets. This creates significant revenue opportunities beyond simple capacity sales—Orange can bundle connectivity with its broader portfolio of enterprise services, cloud connectivity, and security solutions. The company’s established presence across both Europe and Africa gives it unique advantages in managing cross-Mediterranean digital trade, particularly as African digital economies continue their rapid growth. For Orange, Medusa represents infrastructure that supports its entire regional business ecosystem rather than just another cable investment.
Transforming Mediterranean Capacity Economics
Medusa’s design with up to 24 fiber pairs represents a fundamental shift in Mediterranean capacity economics. Traditional cables in the region typically feature 4-8 fiber pairs, making Medusa’s potential 480Tbps total capacity a market-disrupting proposition. This massive capacity injection will likely drive down transit costs between Europe and North Africa, potentially accelerating digital transformation across sectors from fintech to e-commerce in markets like Tunisia and Morocco. However, the business model faces challenges—success depends on stimulating sufficient demand to utilize this capacity profitably. AFR-IX and partners are likely betting on the explosive growth of internet usage in Africa, which has consistently exceeded projections, to absorb this capacity over the cable’s 15-25 year lifespan.
The West African Extension Strategy
The planned extension down Africa’s west coast represents one of Medusa’s most ambitious business plays. By connecting Mediterranean landing points to West African markets like Gabon and potentially the Democratic Republic of Congo, Medusa could capture valuable Europe-to-West Africa traffic that currently routes through other cables. The €14.3 million EU funding for this expansion suggests strategic alignment with Europe’s interest in digital connectivity with West Africa. This expansion positions Medusa to compete directly with established systems like the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable, potentially offering lower latency routes between European hubs and key West African economic centers. The success of this expansion will depend on navigating complex regulatory environments and securing reliable power infrastructure at African landing stations.
Redrawing the Mediterranean Connectivity Map
Medusa’s comprehensive route—stretching from Portugal to Jordan with planned expansion to Syria—creates a new connectivity backbone that challenges existing cable systems. By offering direct routes between secondary markets rather than concentrating on major hubs, Medusa could capture niche traffic that larger systems overlook. The cable’s timing coincides with increasing demand for diverse routing options as businesses seek redundancy following incidents like the Red Sea cable cuts that highlighted vulnerabilities in concentrated routing. For countries like Tunisia and Morocco, Medusa represents an opportunity to position themselves as digital gateways between Europe and Africa, potentially attracting data center investments and digital services companies seeking strategic locations.
