Trapani-Kelibia 2 (KELTRA-2)

Overview

Trapani-Kelibia 2, commonly designated KELTRA-2, is a submarine cable system spanning 209 km across the central Mediterranean Sea. It connects Italy and Tunisia, serving the relatively short but active corridor between the Italian island of Sicily and the North African coast. The cable is a bilateral system jointly owned by Italian and Tunisian telecommunications operators.

Route and Landings

In Italy, the cable lands at Trapani, located on the western tip of Sicily. In Tunisia, the cable lands at Kelibia, a coastal town on the Cap Bon peninsula. These two landing points bracket the roughly 209 km span of the cable across the Strait of Sicily.

Ownership and Operators

KELTRA-2 is co-owned by Sparkle and Tunisia Telecom. Sparkle is the international wholesale arm of Telecom Italia, operating a broad portfolio of submarine and terrestrial infrastructure across Europe, the Mediterranean, and beyond. Tunisia Telecom is the state-owned national operator of Tunisia.

Status and Timeline

KELTRA-2 entered service in 2007 and currently operates as an active submarine cable system connecting Italy and Tunisia.

Regional Context

The Italy–Tunisia corridor is served by several other submarine systems of varying scale. Long-haul cables such as 2Africa (45,000 km, RFS 2024), Asia Africa Europe-1 (25,000 km, RFS 2017), and IMEWE (12,091 km, RFS 2010) use Italian landing points as part of much wider international routes. The PEACE Cable (RFS 2022) similarly transits Tunisia as part of a transcontinental system. The forthcoming Medusa Submarine Cable System (RFS 2026) will land in both Italy and Tunisia and, at 8,760 km, will serve the broader Mediterranean region. KELTRA-2, at 209 km, stands apart from these long-haul systems as a dedicated bilateral link focused exclusively on direct Italy–Tunisia connectivity.

Measured over 155 ping tests across the last 60 days, KELTRA-2 shows an average round-trip latency of 114.6 ms, with a best recorded result of 24.6 ms. The best-case figure aligns with the physical distance of the cable, while the average reflects real-world network conditions across the path.

Strategic Role

KELTRA-2 provides a direct submarine link between Sicily and the Tunisian coast, offering a geographically focused connection between two countries separated by a relatively narrow stretch of the Mediterranean. Its Trapani–Kelibia pairing represents one of the shorter bilateral Mediterranean crossings, complementing the broader long-haul systems that traverse this corridor as part of larger intercontinental routes.