UAE-based telco Du said it has signed a partnership deal to extend the Peace subsea cable into the UAE.

The 21,500km Peace cable, which was set live in August last year, has 13 landing points across 12 countries, linking Singapore to Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Peace is operated and privately owned by Hong Kong-based telecoms company PCCW Global. However, the branching units are owned by telco partners. Du will construct the Peace Gulf Extension to extend the system to the UAE.

The projected capacity of the extension has not been disclosed, nor has the location of the landing point. It is expected to be ready for service in H2 2026.

“This collaboration will bring about significant economic and digital advancements, ensuring our customers enjoy unparalleled reliability and value,” said Karim Benkirane, chief commercial officer at Du.

The Huawei-made Peace cable was first launched in 2022, linking Marseille in France to Egypt. Extensions to Pakistan and Kenya were completed in 2022.

An extension of the cable to Tunisia landed in Bizerte in February this year, in partnership with Ooredoo's local unit. In the same month, the cable landed in Kulhudhuffushi in the Maldives.

The cable has a capacity of up to 96Tbps for the Pakistan-Egypt segment and 192Tbps for the Mediterranean segment from Egypt to France. The capacity of the Singapore splice is not known.

There are numerous cables landing in the UAE, including TEAMS, SeaMeWe-4, SeaMeWe-5, FALCON, AAE-1, 2Africa, Fiber Optic Gulf, Flag, and TW1, with SeaMeWe-6 and Africa-1 expected to join in coming years.

Du, previously known as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, has around five data centers in the UAE, two of which opened in 2021. In March of last year, Omantel and Du announced plans for a 275-kilometer subsea cable that would link the UAE and Oman.

The telco also partnered with Oracle earlier this year to develop a sovereign cloud platform in the UAE.