STC launches subsea cable in Red Sea

Saudi telecommunications and connectivity provider STC announced the launch of the first high-capacity submarine cable in the Red Sea. The ‘Saudi Vision Cable’ is operational at its first landing station in Jeddah. When complete, it will provide seamless connectivity through four landings – including Jeddah, Yanbu, Duba, and Haql.

The Saudi Vision Cable spans 1,160,000 metres and will join 16 fibre pairs with connectivity of up to 18Tbps per pair joining the east and west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This new Subsea cable will help to bolster telecommunications infrastructure and connectivity in the region as well as attract international invesments in data centres and communications services.

Additionally, the subsea cable will improve accessibility to high-speed internet services, providing citizens with economic and social benefits associated with better access to education, healthcare, and business services.

STC Group CEO Eng. Olayan Bin Mohammed Alwetaid said that the cable will boost digital infrastructure throughout the KSA, noting, “This achievement reflects our comprehensive strategy that aims to diversify (STC) Group’s investment opportunities and support digital transformation in the KSA.”

“The cable will provide digital connectivity services for corporations and individuals between the KSA an the continents by building a regional digital hub connecting the globe via an integrated digital ecosystem.”

The data centre market in KSA is undergoing a seismic shift – from lagging behind in infrastructure to becoming a regional hub. A recent study from Ken Research noted that a surge in investments from local and international sources was being driven by demand for data storage as well as increasing digitisation, IoT, and cybersecurity needs.

Google, Oracle and Huawei are the cloud providers increasing their presence in Saudi Arabia. Each is planning on expanding its presence in the country, with Google opening three separate cloud zones in Dammam alone.

Alwetaid said of the Red Sea submarinecable, “Saudi Vision Cable provides communication between several international information centers. It also achieves the raising level of the unified optical fiber platform that is cost-efficient and flexible, and provides access – low latency – to all international cables in the landing stations and information centers of the STC Group.”