Sparkle and GÉANT Expand Global Research Connectivity 

Sparkle and GÉANT are expanding international research and education networking capacity through a series of new infrastructure agreements spanning Europe, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The new routes, announced in Rome on May 28, support major European Union co-funded digital infrastructure initiatives aimed at improving scientific collaboration, cross-border access to research facilities, and regional digital inclusion.

The latest deployments add capacity across three strategic corridors. A new route between Slough, UK and Allan, Jordan strengthens connectivity between ASREN and SESAME, the Middle East’s flagship synchrotron light source, improving access for scientific collaboration across the region. A second route linking Marseille and Cairo connects Egypt’s ENSTINET research network to ASREN and onward into Europe via GÉANT. Both links were delivered under the EUMEDplus program, which supports digital collaboration between Arab Mediterranean countries and Europe. In Africa, Sparkle also delivered a new Lagos–Cape Town route for WACREN, linking the Lagos Global Exchange Point in Nigeria to the ZAOXI GXP in Cape Town. The connection enables interworking between WACREN and the UbuntuNet Alliance through South African NRENs SANReN and TENET, marking the first direct interconnection between Africa’s regional research and education networks on African soil.

GÉANT serves more than 50 million users across 10,000 research and education institutions in Europe and extends connectivity into more than 110 countries worldwide, with backbone speeds reaching up to 1.6 Tbps. Sparkle, already a long-time GÉANT supplier for connectivity and cloud services, said the new agreements build on a relationship that dates back to the early 2010s and now includes participation in the OCRE 2024 framework for advanced cloud services across 39 European countries through 2030. The companies said the collaboration continues to focus on resilient, high-capacity infrastructure to support global research communities and future scientific workloads.

• New international routes now connect:
  • Slough, UK ↔ Allan, Jordan
  • Marseille, France ↔ Cairo, Egypt
  • Lagos, Nigeria ↔ Cape Town, South Africa
• Projects supported by:
  • EUMEDplus (EU co-funded)
  • AfricaConnect3 (EU co-funded)
• The Lagos–Cape Town deployment marks the first direct interconnection between Africa’s regional research and education networks on African soil
• GÉANT connects:
  • 50+ million users
  • 10,000 research institutions
  • 110+ countries globally
  • backbone capacity up to 1.6 Tbps

“Researchers and students depend on fast, reliable connectivity to collaborate and access critical resources. Our role is to make this possible by working alongside our international research and education networking community,” said Bram Peeters, Chief Network Services Officer at GÉANT.

🌐 Analysis: The expansion underscores how research and education networks continue to serve as an early proving ground for international high-capacity optical transport and cross-border interconnection. Projects such as EUMEDplus and AfricaConnect3 are increasingly important not only for academic collaboration, but also for building regional digital infrastructure that can support future cloud, AI, and data-intensive scientific workloads. For Sparkle, the agreements also reinforce its position as a strategic international backbone provider connecting Europe with Africa and the Middle East, particularly as demand grows for resilient subsea and terrestrial capacity linking emerging digital hubs.

EUMEDplus and AfricaConnect3 are two major European Union co-funded initiatives designed to strengthen digital connectivity and research collaboration beyond Europe’s borders. EUMEDplus focuses on improving high-capacity research and education networking between Europe and the Arab Mediterranean region, supporting interconnection among National Research and Education Networks, research institutions, and scientific facilities such as SESAME in Jordan. The project emphasizes resilient infrastructure, expanded regional collaboration, and improved access to European research resources. AfricaConnect3 serves a similar mission across Africa, supporting advanced network connectivity for academic and research communities through collaboration among WACREN, the UbuntuNet Alliance, ASREN, and GÉANT. The program has enabled new backbone capacity linking West, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa, including the recent Lagos–Cape Town connection—the first direct interconnection between Africa’s regional research and education networks on African soil. Both initiatives are currently active and continue to expand international connectivity to support research, education, innovation, and digital inclusion across their respective regions.