Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) is an optical-fibersubmarine cable system serving 24 countries on the Europe, west coast and south Africa, managed by a consortium of 20 members.
Agreements are being put in place to allow the arrival of other operators in countries along the ACE cable route. Guinea-Bissau is the next country to be connected to the submarine cable.
ACE Consortium consists of telecommunications operators and member countries that have invested in the total 700 million dollars project, sometimes with the financial support of the World Bank. The consortium agreement was signed on 5 June 2010 and on 15 December 2012, this 17,000km-long cable was put into service for the first time. The official inauguration ceremony was held in Banjul, Gambia, on 19 December 2012.
The 4 to 5cm diameter cable runs at around 6,000 m below the sea level. The maximum capacity of the entire system is increased from 12.8Tbit/s in the design to 20Tbit/s.
This 17 000-kilometers long cable is the only one connecting 24 west African and European countries. The ACE consortium members are organized according to a global access concept: multiple investors in one landing station. ACE marine routes have a low history of fault and a time-proof technology. The cable is able to adopt newer transponder technology.
