ViaTunisia Subsea Cable Goes Live — EU-Funded Direct Link Between France and North Africa Declared Ready for Service

Orange announced on June 3, 2026 that the ViaTunisia segment of the Medusa subsea cable system had reached Ready for Service (RFS) status, establishing a direct, resilient high-capacity submarine link between Marseille, France and Bizerte, Tunisia. Partly funded by the EU's Connecting Europe Facility and built for a 25-year lifespan, the cable diversifies North Africa's internet routing — a region previously reliant on legacy cable systems vulnerable to single points of failure. The Medusa cable system connects 11 Mediterranean countries; the ViaTunisia segment is the first direct France-Tunisia submarine route, reducing latency for Tunisian internet users and providing an alternative route to the SEA-ME-WE 4 and AAE-1 cables that dominate North African bandwidth. For Tunisia's 12 million people — where internet penetration is approximately 72% but speeds and reliability have constrained e-commerce and telemedicine growth — the new cable substantially increases available bandwidth and network resilience. The EU's Connecting Europe Facility investment reflects the bloc's strategy to reduce North Africa's digital isolation and create economic opportunity through connectivity.