Al Khums, Libya

Al Khums, Libya: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Al Khums is a port city on the Mediterranean coast of Libya, serving as the capital of the Murqub District with a population of approximately 202,000. Its coastal position on the Mediterranean has made it a natural candidate for submarine cable infrastructure, and one submarine cable currently lands at this location. That cable, the LFON (Libyan Fiber Optic Network), connects Al Khums to other points within Libya, forming part of the country's domestic submarine cable architecture.

The LFON represents an intra-national connection rather than an intercontinental or cross-regional link, meaning Al Khums participates in a corridor that runs entirely within Libyan waters. This places the city in a distinct role within Libya's submarine cable geography, functioning as a node in domestic fiber connectivity rather than as an international gateway.

Cables Landing at Al Khums, Libya

LFON (Libyan Fiber Optic Network) is a submarine cable stretching 1,639 kilometers, with a ready-for-service date noted as 1999 (draft status). The cable connects multiple landing points within Libya, with all endpoints situated in the same country. As a domestically oriented system, LFON links Libyan coastal cities to one another via a submarine route along the Mediterranean seabed, providing an undersea fiber path that complements any terrestrial network infrastructure within the country.

Regional Context

Among Libya's 14 submarine cable landing points, Al Khums hosts one cable, placing it alongside Al Bayda as one of the single-cable landing points in the country. The more connected nodes in Libya include Tripoli, which lands three cables, as well as Benghazi, Derna, Misuratah, and Tobruk, each of which hosts two cables. Al Khums ranks within the top 64 percent of Libyan landing points by cable count, reflecting a modest but established presence in the national submarine cable map.

Network Role

Al Khums functions as a single-cable terminus within Libya's submarine network, connected exclusively through the LFON system. Its role is oriented toward domestic connectivity, enabling fiber-optic communication between Libyan coastal cities via an undersea route rather than linking Libya to international cable systems. The cable's 1,639-kilometer length suggests it spans a substantial portion of Libya's coastline, and Al Khums represents one waypoint in that system.

Within the regional submarine cable graph, Al Khums contributes to the distribution of connectivity along Libya's Mediterranean shore, ensuring that this port city participates in the country's undersea fiber network alongside more heavily connected hubs. Its presence as a landing point reflects the broader effort to extend domestic submarine cable reach beyond the largest urban centers in Libya.