Medusa subsea cable system expands to Jordan in partnership with NaiTel, connecting to the Coral Bridge cable.
AFR-IX Telecom's Medusa subsea cable system is expanding into Jordan through a strategic partnership with NaiTel. The agreement will integrate the Medusa cable with NaiTel's Coral Bridge cable and network infrastructure, establishing a new access point to the Medusa system that creates a direct connectivity route from Aqaba to Europe and the wider Middle East. As part of the collaboration, Medusa will establish colocation capacity at Aqaba Digital Hub, the data center parent of NaiTel, integrating the cable system with the hub's open-access cable landing station.
Eyad Abu Khorma, founder and CEO of Aqaba Digital Hub, said: "Our collaboration with Medusa further expands the international connectivity ecosystem we have built in Aqaba, strengthening the links between Europe, North Africa, Jordan and the wider Middle East. Jordan is uniquely positioned to serve as a bridge between the Mediterranean and the wider Middle East, and we look forward to working with Medusa to develop new connectivity opportunities across the region."
Norman Albi, CEO of Medusa Submarine Cable System, added: "Partnering with NaiTel and Aqaba Digital Hub represents an important step in extending Medusa's Mediterranean connectivity into Jordan and the wider Middle East."
The Coral Bridge cable, which went live last year, spans 15km and connects Jordan to Egypt via a repeaterless system that lands at Aqaba Digital Hub and Telecom Egypt's Taba cable landing station. It offers 48 fiber pairs. Aqaba Digital Hub itself is a 12MW facility located in the coastal city of Aqaba and serves as Jordan's largest carrier-neutral data center. NaiTel operates as the telecom arm of Aqaba Digital Hub and holds a telecom operator license in Jordan.
The Medusa system's first segment went live in June, connecting France and Tunisia. Once fully deployed, the 8,700 km system will span 19 landing sites across Europe and North Africa. Originally announced in 2022, the 24-fiber pair system is due to land in Spain, France, Sicily, Greece, and Cyprus, and across Africa's northern coast at multiple points in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Owned by AFR-IX Telecom, Medusa will run from the Carcavelos area of Lisbon, Portugal, through the Mediterranean to Port Said, Egypt, and Aqaba, Jordan, with a planned expansion to Syria. The system also includes a planned extension down the West African coast to Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea.
Aqaba is emerging as a major cable landing hub. Sparkle's GreenMed cable and the Google-backed BlueMed and Blue & Raman systems are also planned to land there, joining FLAG's FEA system, which has been operational since 1997, and the upcoming Andromeda system. More than a dozen submarine cables transit the Red Sea, a critical connectivity route between Asia and Europe. In recent years, companies have explored alternative routes that bypass the region, including overland paths via Israel.