Today, Djibouti Telecom completed the landing of the SEA-ME-WE-5 submarine cable system in Haramous, achieving its primary goal of turning Djibouti into a major regional and global hub for telecommunication. The inauguration ceremony took place in the presence of Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti and the Minister of Communications, Posts and Telecommunications, Ali Hassan Bahdon.

SEA-ME-WE 5 has a total length of 20,000 km and connects 17 countries across South-East Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe, including France, Saudi Arabia, India and Malaysia.

The cable is designed to provide broadband communications with a capacity of 24 terabytes per second. The system is based on a new generation of DWDM technology and can support a throughput optical channel of 100 gigabytes. This capacity will enable the provision of Internet TV, high definition video and other broadband services.

Construction work on SE-ME-WE 5 commenced in September 2014, supported by an international consortium of 17 major telecommunications operators.

SEA-ME-WE 5 will become one of the keystones of the various submarine cable systems that already pass through Djibouti, such as EASSy, EIG, SEA-ME-W3, Djibouti-Aden and Seacom. On February 7, 2015, Djibouti Telecom hosted the AAE-1 submarine cable connecting Asia, Africa and Europe.

The new cable will play an important role in strengthening the inter-connectivity of Djibouti’s regional partners in Europe and the Far East. In addition, SEA-ME-WE 5 will be connected to Djibouti’s DATA Center, which will enable all operators to have their own Internet point of presence (PoP).

The SE-ME-WE 5 submarine cable is funded by a consortium of three banks: the French Development Agency (AFD), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and the Djibouti BCI–BRED.

In 2012, Djibouti Telecom initiated the development of all these submarine cable projects in order to acquire the latest generation technology.

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