Optical & Fixed Networks

On March 3, as the global communications and technology community converged in Barcelona, Spain, for MWC Barcelona 2025, Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (YOFC) took center stage with its visionary theme, “Leading a New Future With Fibre.”

Axiata’s telecoms infrastructure company Edotco announced on Tuesday it has signed a strategic agreement with Malaysian infrastructure firm Kejuruteraan Rasshin (KRSB) to expand digital infrastructure in Sarawak.

Saudi digital enabler stc Group and Ooredoo Oman, a regional telecommunications provider, have announced the signing of a head of terms agreement to establish an international terrestrial fibre optic network corridor between Saudi Arabia and Oman. It’s called the SONIC project.

Nokia announced on Monday that ACES-NH – a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Advanced Communication and Electronics Systems (ACES) – has deployed the country’s first 25GPON neutral host network.

Malaysian telco YTL Communications and telecoms infrastructure firm Bullish Aim Group announced on Monday they have formed a joint venture to develop fibre infrastructure to support the growth of data centres in Johor.

Algeria Telecom, the largest telecommunications operator in Algeria, and tech giant Huawei have jointly announced the official launch of the national 400G WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) project, building an all-optical premium transmission foundation covering the whole country.

PLDT announced on Friday it has successfully completed its two subsea cable branches connecting the Philippines to the intra-Asian Apricot cable system that will run between Japan and Singapore.

Only days after making news in Indonesia, telecom and fibre consulting firm APTelecom is back in the headlines, this time in Malaysia, with an appointment to support another submarine cable project.

UAE-based telco du said on Monday it has signed a partnership deal with PEACE Cable International Network Co Limited to extend the PEACE subsea cable system into the UAE and Gulf region.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel said on Monday that it has landed the SEA-ME-WE 6 subsea cable in Chennai, two months after establising the cable system's first Indian landing point in Mumbai.

Ciena says that Indian ISP Tejays Dynamics is using its coherent routing solutions to build an adaptive IP network that will serve the connectivity needs of its enterprise and campus customers.

Multinational technology conglomerate Meta has formally announced what it calls its most ambitious subsea cable endeavour yet: Project Waterworth, which will reach five major continents and span over 50,000 kilometres, making it the world’s longest subsea cable project. It will, says Meta, use the highest-capacity technology available.

Indonesian operator Super Sistem, which is developing the Indonesian Barat Timur Indonesia (BTI) submarine cable system, has appointed consulting firm APTelecom to engage prospective customers on its behalf to undertake presales for the system.

Nokia announced on Thursday that it has signed a deal with Cambodian telco CamGSM – a.k.a. Cellcard – to migrate its fibre access network from GPON to XGS-PON, which could boost speeds for its broadband customers as high as 10 Gbps.

Ericsson announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabian telco Etihad Etisalat (a.k.a. Mobily) to explore technologies to develop intent-driven autonomous networks using AI and automation.

Iran’s state-owned Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC) says it has signed a memorandum of agreement with Omantel and Iranian infrastructure firm Pishgaman to create a data transit corridor between Iran and Oman.

National operator Tunisie Telecom has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Medusa, the submarine fibre optic system connecting the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and the Red Sea.

Nokia announced on Friday that it has signed a deal with internet service provider Puntonet Ecuador to upgrade its fibre broadband network to 10G, with an eye towards 25GPON in the future.

Saudi Arabian telco Etihad Etisalat (a.k.a. Mobily) announced on Tuesday it has successfully landed the Africa-1 subsea cable in Duba, which it says will position the country as a key international data exchange hub.

Philippine telco Globe Telecom says it recently held a successful pilot test of 50GPON, which it hopes will not only boost the user experience for its fibre broadband service, but also unlock other potential use cases for enterprises.

Qatar-based Ooredoo Group announced on Thursday it has signed an agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build a new subsea cable connecting seven countries in the Gulf region.

The 45,000 kilometre 2Africa subsea cable systems interconnecting Europe, Asia and Africa is back in the news again, this time thanks to an announcement from Telecom Egypt and Cisco.

C3ntro Telecom (C3ntro), a provider of AI-enabled fibre networks and data centre connectivity solutions, has announced the successful deployment in Mexico of a solution from Infinera, a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors.

Nigeria and the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) have announced the award of a USTDA grant to Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE) for a feasibility study to support internet access for 12 million people through the deployment of new fibre optic backbone infrastructure across the country.

Iraqi operator iQ Networks says it has signed the country’s first dark fibre IRU framework agreement with Qatar-based subsea cable operator Gulf Bridge International (GBI), whilst also announcing its terrestrial transit network now has over 1 Tbps of capacity.

Nokia and Saudi Arabian telco STC Group say that they’ve successfully wrapped up what they claim is the first trial in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region of a long haul terabit optical solution for data centre interconnectivity.

Incumbent Maldives telco Dhiraagu said on Wednesday it has extended its high-speed fibre broadband network to all inhabited islands in the Maldives in a project that took five years to complete.

Nokia announced on Friday it has completed the selloff of its subsea cable unit, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), to the French government in order to focus on its core network infrastructure business.

Turkcell, globally a leading comprehensive telecom and digital services provider, has announced the successful completion of the world's first 2.4Tbps field trial on a live transmission network in collaboration with Huawei.

Recently, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority hosted the National Broadband Network Summit with the theme of "Gigabit For All" in Pakistan. The summit aims to bring together government and industry chain forces to promote Pakistan's digital economy by accelerating optical broadband deployment.

Telin, a provider of premium international carrier voice, data services, and business solutions, and subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia, and Citra Connect, an Indonesian provider of connectivity services and digital solutions, have officially held a ceremony for a new cable landing station (CLS) at Nongsa Digital Park, Batam, the largest city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands.

NEC announced on Thursday it has finished building the Asia Direct Cable (ADC), an intra-Asia subsea cable connecting China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Galaxy Backbone (GBB), the information technology and shared services provider of the Federal Government of Nigeria, has announced the successful expansion of its state-of-the-art fibre optic network to Lagos, Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria, and Ilorin, capital of Kwara State in the north-central region.