Mauritania’s digital transformation ministry MTNMA (Ministère de la Transformation Numérique et de la Modernisation de l’Administration) and EllaLink, the owner of a high-capacity optic fibre submarine cable directly connecting Europe and Latin America, have signed a contract for the construction, operation and maintenance of an international link that will directly connect Mauritania to Madrid in Spain.
The partners say the new diverse infrastructure will provide Mauritania with direct, cost-effective international connectivity up to European main exchanges.
The project includes the construction of a cable landing station in Nouadhibou, the second largest city of Mauritania, and a more than 500 kilometre branch connected to EllaLink’s existing subsea cable system.
Alcatel Submarine Networks has been selected to build the subsea section which will include two fibre pairs and use state-of-the-art optical technologies such as a ROADM WSS branching unit. ROADM (reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer) and WSS (wavelength selective switch) are key components in modern optical networks, enabling dynamic wavelength routing and management.
EllaLink will be also in charge of the operation and maintenance of this new infrastructure.
The construction has started, and the infrastructure is projected to be ready for service by early 2027. The new infrastructure will deliver to national operators an initial 200Gbps low latency direct circuit between the new cable landing station of Nouadhibou and EllaLink’s point of presence in Madrid.
EllaLink says this new diverse submarine cable will reinforce Mauritanian international connectivity, reducing the risk of disruption to the Mauritanian economy and supporting the digital transformation of the country, with capacity set to grow for the next 25 years.
The project is supported by the European Investment Bank and by the CEF Digital programme of the European Commission.
EllaLink is a privately funded and independent company committed to providing products and services on a carrier-neutral and open access basis. Marguerite II, a pan-European equity fund active in the renewables, energy, transport and digital infrastructure sectors, is the main shareholder of EllaLink.
