Mobily unveils Red Sea subsea cable to boost Saudi Egypt digital link

By Joan Ngulube · October 7, 2026, 2:08 AM · 4 minutes read

Mobily plans a 140 Tbps Red Sea subsea cable between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Bluebird Fiber and MOSAIC-5G also announce major network upgrades and private 5G projects.

Mobily is moving ahead with the Mobily Red Sea Cable, a new subsea line set to deliver about 140 Tbps of capacity between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The cable will run from Duba in Saudi Arabia to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. This gives telecom operators, hyperscalers, and content providers another route toward Europe. The Red Sea corridor is becoming more important as Saudi Arabia pours money into cloud, AI, data centers, and digital infrastructure.

Mobily’s Chief Wholesale Officer, Adel Al Askar, said the cable will create a direct east-west route to Egypt and then to Europe. This route will not depend on the current paths through Jeddah. Hyperscalers, OTT platforms, and operators looking for strong, high-capacity links are the main targets. In a Telecom Review Asia interview, Mobily presented the project at Submarine Networks World 2026. The company calls it a fully Saudi-owned system, in line with Vision 2030 and the country’s digital sovereignty plans.

At the time of the project announcement, Mobily listed four submarine gateways on Saudi Arabia’s coasts: Jeddah (connected to AAE-1, TGN-EA, SEACOM), Al Khobar (TGN-Gulf), Yanbu (SEA-ME-WE 6), and Duba (Africa-1, landed in 2025).

Mobily already runs four submarine gateways on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea and Gulf coasts. These connect to international systems like AAE-1, TGN-EA, SEACOM, and TGN-Gulf. The new cable will add more international capacity. Saudi Arabia wants to grow its digital links as demand for cloud and AI services rises. Mobily is also investing in more subsea cables, data centers, fiber networks, and cloud and AI partnerships. The company is betting big on digital infrastructure.

Industry analysts say the new route matters. Existing Red Sea cables have known weak spots. Reports show outages and risks to submarine cables in the area. Physically separate routes for international data are now seen as essential. A Light Reading report details how past Red Sea disruptions exposed global connectivity gaps. New, independent routes are now a top priority.

Mobily is not alone in pushing for bigger networks. Bluebird Fiber just signed a multi-year deal with Ekinops to upgrade its optical network across the US Midwest. Bluebird’s network covers over 36,000 route miles in 12 states. It connects more than 450 points of presence and over 750,000 on-net and near-net buildings. Bluebird will use Ekinops DWDM optical gear and coherent tech to roll out 100G to 400G wavelength services. This will boost backbone capacity and allow bigger connections for data centers, hyperscalers, carriers, and wholesale clients. The upgrade builds on Bluebird’s existing partnership with Ekinops. Ekinops is now a key supplier as Bluebird grows its regional fiber reach.

Independent reports describe the Mobily Red Sea Cable as a planned system, with no confirmation yet available regarding commercial launch, construction dates, contractor selection, or activation of the stated 140 Tbps capacity.

Telecom Review Asia

In the UK, the MOSAIC-5G group has started a £4.3 million program to speed up commercial use of UK-built 5G tech. The project brings together Aerix, Antevia Networks, Spry Fox Networks, Noema Signal Labs, AttoCore, RANsemi, Liverpool 5G, and Bath & North East Somerset Council. They will combine Antevia’s 5G SHIFT private network, AttoCore’s 5G core, and Aerix’s management platform into a single 5G Standalone private network. The goal is to deploy in hours, not weeks. Noema Signal Labs aims for over 100% gains in spectral efficiency and support for more than 300% extra connected devices at the same service quality. The project has over £3.1 million in Innovate UK funding. It will run from August 2026 to January 2028. Trials are set for Bath and London. Eight high-skilled jobs will be created.

Strategic implications for digital infrastructure

These moves show how operators and tech groups are reacting to the surge in demand for bandwidth and private networks. If Mobily’s Red Sea cable goes ahead as planned, Saudi Arabia will get stronger digital links abroad. The Red Sea will become even more important for data moving between the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Bluebird Fiber’s upgrade and the MOSAIC-5G project in the UK both show a clear push to scale up and speed up advanced private networks. The winners will be those who can deliver big, reliable infrastructure and fast next-gen connections. That’s what is driving investment and tech choices now.

Topics: Technology Telecommunications Cloud & Digital Infrastructure #Egypt #SEACOM

Author

Joan Ngulube

Joan Ngulube is the Technology, Society & Future Economies Editor at The Africans Time. She covers technology, digital infrastructure, fintech, demographic change, climate and the energy transition, focusing on how these shifts affect people, businesses and economies across Africa.