How is Orange Strengthening EU-Africa Data Links?
Orange is reinforcing its position as a major force in digital infrastructure with the first landing of the Medusa submarine cable at its Marseille facilities.
The milestone marks an important step in building resilient, high-capacity data routes between Europe and North Africa, enhancing the Mediterranean’s role as a key corridor for global digital traffic.
Marseille’s growing data centre hub
The arrival of the Medusa cable strengthens Marseille’s position as a global interconnection hub. Orange now provides customers with secure, direct access to its interconnected data centres across the city through a fully redundant fibre-optic network. This setup increases resilience, improves reliability and ensures seamless international reach.
The new infrastructure connects Marseille with major European network hubs including Paris, London and Frankfurt, extending onward to Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Orange manages the entire project end to end, overseeing technical, regulatory, security and environmental elements. This integrated model consolidates Marseille’s position as a central node for international telecommunications and data exchange.
The Medusa cable’s landing demonstrates how submarine systems underpin the data centre ecosystem. These cables serve as the physical backbone for intercontinental cloud and content delivery, linking hyperscalers, enterprises and public networks through secure, high-bandwidth routes.
The Medusa system: Europe–Africa connectivity
The Medusa cable’s European landing in Marseille forms part of the 1,050 km segment that links the French coast with Bizerte in Tunisia. The connection sits within the Via Tunisia initiative announced by Orange in 2023 and directly addresses the rising bandwidth needs across the Mediterranean.
By increasing network diversity and performance, the Medusa system supports the long-term scalability required for data centres and digital service providers operating between Europe and Africa. The enhanced connectivity also boosts cross-border redundancy, ensuring that data traffic can be rerouted in the event of network disruption.
The project benefits from co-financing by the European Union through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), supporting three fibre pairs owned by Orange under the European Global Gateway strategy. This initiative aims to strengthen connectivity between Europe and Africa while promoting a secure, sustainable and inclusive digital transition.
Michaël Trabbia, CEO of Orange Wholesale, highlights the project’s broader purpose.
“We are proud to bring our leadership and expertise to the Medusa cable, hosted within our secure infrastructure in Marseille, with laying operations carried out by our cable ships, Teliri and Sophie Germain,” he says.
“Our infrastructure offers a key link in Mediterranean basin connectivity, ensuring digital resilience and supporting socio-economic development. With this landing, Orange enhances Europe’s digital sovereignty and positions Marseille as a global digital hub, now hosting the arrival of 17 submarine cables connected worldwide.”
By situating Medusa within the EU-backed Global Gateway framework, Orange reinforces its commitment to Europe’s digital sovereignty and to bridging connectivity gaps between continents.
Sustainable deployment and future-ready networks
Orange’s cable-laying operation follows a sustainability-led approach. Its teams used horizontal directional drilling to protect sensitive marine ecosystems, including Posidonia seagrass meadows and the Calanques National Park, while adhering to local environmental standards.
The cable-laying vessel Sophie Germain, equipped with low-emission propulsion technology, completed the landing with minimal environmental impact, demonstrating how infrastructure growth and ecological responsibility can align.
Orange remains one of the most experienced operators in the submarine connectivity sector, with more than 40 cable systems spanning nearly 450,000 km worldwide.
Its subsidiaries, Elettra Tlc and Orange Marine, manage engineering, installation and maintenance across telecommunications, energy and hybrid systems. This vertically integrated structure allows Orange to maintain full operational control and deliver consistent performance across its global network.
For data centre operators, the arrival of Medusa provides new routing diversity and greater resilience for mission-critical workloads moving between European and African regions. As demand for AI processing, cloud storage and content delivery continues to grow, submarine infrastructure like Medusa plays an essential role in maintaining low-latency, high-capacity links.
The Medusa landing in Marseille highlights Orange’s continuing investment in robust, future-ready infrastructure. Combining technical precision with sustainable engineering, the company strengthens Europe’s international gateways and ensures the Mediterranean remains a critical bridge in global digital communications.
