Maroc Telecom Launches Loukkos Fiber-Optic Submarine Cable Apr 7

With a transmiting rate of 40 gigabits per second, the new 187-kilometer long cable is already serving Moroccan users and the international Internet bandwidth, Maroc Telecom said, MAP reports.

Last week the Atlas Offshore fiber-optic submarine cable, which links Morocco to France, was damaged in an area 86 kilometers off the coasts of the norther city of Asilah at a depth of 550 meters.

The damage slowed the transmission speed of Internet connection in Morocco, MAP concludes.

The Loukkos optic fibre international submarine cable between Asilah in Morocco and Rota in Spain. The aim is to diversify Morocco's connectivity, enhance the security of Maroc Telecom's international traffic and to cope with increasing traffic from broadband internet. The Loukkos cable is 187 kilometres long and  cost in the region of 143 million dirhams.The suppliers are CanaLink and Alcatel Submarine Network (ASN). The Loukkos cable will have an initial capacity of 80 Gbps which will be expandable to 1,280 Gbps.The new fibre optic land cable will ultimately connect Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso,according to telcompaper.com.