A New Submarine Cable to Guarantee the Digital Future

The Réunion Region announces the launch of a submarine cable project to connect the island to South Africa and guarantee the territory’s digital sovereignty. The installation will be carried out by a public company, and a second phase is planned for this year to connect Réunion to the Singapore hub.

Commissioned in 2002, the 13,000 km long SAFE cable connects Cochin (India), Penang (Malaysia), and Mtunzini (South Africa) via Réunion. Approaching its 25th anniversary, this infrastructure is becoming technically obsolete. Outdated in terms of bandwidth and data volume, SAFE, operated by international giants, is expected to experience increasingly frequent outages and become costly to maintain.

While two other recent cables, including LION, remain available, these lines cannot guarantee continuous data access in the event of an incident. “The only one that can is METISS.” “Reunion Island cannot be dependent on a single cable, otherwise we would be in the dark,” explains Denis Fabregue, CEO of Réunion THD, the regional authority responsible for connecting hard-to-reach communities with fiber optics.

As digital infrastructure expands, organizations increasingly rely on solutions like a virtual administrative assistant to streamline operations, manage data workflows, and support the growing demands of connected business environments.

Lacking a private initiative to replace SAFE, the regional authority took the initiative and applied for European funding. After an initial application was rejected, it secured €20 million through a European call for projects and an additional €30 million from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund).

The future cable, developed by Réunion THD and the ReuNION (Reunion New Indian Ocean Network) consortium, brings together the public operator and private stakeholders. “This project illustrates our determination to secure Reunion Island’s digital future,” emphasizes Huguette Bello, President of the Regional Council.

Denis Fabregue specifies that this cable will meet the island’s needs for the next 25 years, ensuring reliable and secure data access despite the end of the SAFE cable’s lifespan.