Facebook is building $1bn high speed internet across Africa

World’s largest social media company, Facebook is designing a massive underwater cable around Nigeria and other African countries, bringing high-speed connectivity to the continent’s 1.3 billion inhabitants. Facebook has partnered with the likes of South Africa’s MTN, Britain’s Vodafone,  France’s Orange, and China Mobile, and other Africa based operators called 2Africa to build the laudable project, which worth about $1 billion. 

According to Bloomberg, Facebook has assigned Nokia-owned cable systems providers and others to build the subsea cable. At 37,000 km, Facebook claims the internet cable will equal the total distance covered round earth.

The main object of this massive project, Facebook says, is to bring efficient and high-speed internet connectivity to citizens of Africa. Africa is “currently the least connected” in the world, Facebook wrote in a blog post yesterday with just 25% of its population having access to the internet

The submerged cable will interconnect 23 countries in Europe, Africa, and Middle East. Facebook said it will “provide nearly three times the total network capacity of all the subsea cables serving Africa today.” Facebook explained that the 2Africa project will be made more efficient and durable using aluminium rather than copper, as these could help enhance network capacity.