A new subsea cable system dubbed AAE-2 is set to boost international connectivity between Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Asia-Africa-Europe-2 project is being developed by a consortium of PCCW Global, Sparkle, Telecom Egypt, and Zain Omantel International (ZOI), who signed an MoU to jointly construct and operate the system. AAE-2 will stretch from Hong Kong and Singapore to Italy, integrating terrestrial routes across Thailand, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt to enhance geographic diversity and route resilience.
Building on the foundation of the AAE-1 cable system, AAE-2 is expected to deliver significantly higher bandwidth capacity and support advanced applications such as cloud services, hyperscale data transport, and low-latency content delivery. The system will also include strategic extensions to key regional destinations, facilitating further intercontinental connectivity and addressing growing demand from enterprise and wholesale markets.
The consortium emphasized the project’s role in enabling economic development and digital transformation across three continents by offering a robust and future-proof digital infrastructure. By combining subsea and terrestrial assets, the AAE-2 cable aims to strengthen global internet traffic routes and provide an alternative to existing congested paths, especially those passing through chokepoints like the Suez Canal and Strait of Malacca.
- AAE-2 will link Hong Kong and Singapore to Italy with terrestrial routes through Thailand, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt
- Designed to be geographically diverse and resilient, integrating subsea and terrestrial segments
- Will offer unprecedented bandwidth to support AI-ready and cloud-driven digital growth
- Builds on the success of AAE-1 with next-generation infrastructure
- Strategic extensions planned to reach additional regional markets
“We are pleased to bring our expertise to AAE-2, an advanced, high-capacity and geographically diverse subsea cable system connecting Asia and Europe,” said Frederick Chui, CEO of PCCW Global. “This next-generation network underscores our continued commitment to delivering resilient, secure and scalable connectivity for key markets such as Hong Kong, empowering the digital growth of tomorrow.”