East African telcos Ethio Telecom, Djibouti Telecom and the Sudatel Group have turned their cross-border optical fiber memorandum of understanding (MoU) into a binding agreement.

The agreement is aimed at strengthening regional connectivity and network resilience.

According to a joint statement, the agreement establishes a resilient terrestrial fiber corridor connecting the international submarine cable landing stations in Djibouti, traversing Ethiopia, and extending onward to Sudan's landing stations.

The companies said that the route creates a scalable, secure, and diversified regional connectivity pathway linking East Africa to global digital networks.

In December 2024, the telcos signed the original Horizon Fiber initiative MoU. The initiative is intended to expand international bandwidth capacity and strengthen network resilience and redundancy.

It also aims to support rising demand for data, cloud services, hyperscale connectivity, digital platforms, and cross-border data flows across the region.