Egypt and Jordan have officially launched the “Coral Bridge” submarine cable, marking the first direct digital link between the two nations in more than a quarter century. The milestone project is seen as a strategic step in boosting regional connectivity, enabling both countries to strengthen their positions as emerging digital hubs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The 15-kilometer cable stretches across the Gulf of Aqaba, landing in Egypt’s Taba, and was inaugurated via videoconference by Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, and Jordan’s Minister of Digital Economy, Sami Al-Samirat, according to an official joint statement.
Equipped with advanced optical fibers, the Coral Bridge is built to handle the surging demand from artificial intelligence (AI) applications, cloud computing, and hyperscale data centers. Beyond serving local markets, it provides a crucial transit point for international data traffic flowing between Asia, Africa, and Europe, offering enterprises and cloud providers alternative and backup routes.
The launch comes more than 25 years after the last direct cable link between Egypt and Jordan was established in the late 1990s. Since then, global data traffic has exploded, with AI-driven workloads and streaming services requiring vast new bandwidth.
“By reviving and modernizing this digital bridge, both countries are positioning themselves at the center of regional data flows,” said Dr. Hossam El-Sherif, a Cairo-based telecom analyst. He added that such projects not only boost trade and investment in the digital economy but also create resilience against potential disruptions in global connectivity.
For Egypt, the Coral Bridge strengthens its role as a global internet transit hub—a country through which more than 90% of Europe-Asia internet traffic already passes via its Red Sea and Mediterranean subsea cables. For Jordan, the project enhances its ambition to become a regional cloud services hub, supporting digital startups and major enterprises alike.
The project is a joint venture between Telecom Egypt and Jordan’s Naitel, both state-backed operators with ambitions to scale their roles in the international connectivity market. Experts note that such collaborations are vital as MENA governments race to diversify their economies beyond oil and traditional industries, with digital infrastructure seen as a driver of future growth.
According to industry insiders, the Coral Bridge also plays into preparations for mega digital projects, including hyperscale data centers being planned in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which require resilient cross-border connectivity to function efficiently.
“Submarine cables are the unseen arteries of the global economy,” said Rania Malkawi, a Jordanian digital infrastructure consultant. “The Coral Bridge not only links Egypt and Jordan but also strengthens the entire region’s competitiveness in the AI and data-driven era.”
