Optical & Fixed Networks

West African internet service provider Tizeti has launched its FreeFiber broadband service in Nigeria and Ghana, setting what it calls a new benchmark for internet speed and accessibility in the region.

Singapore-based asset manager Keppel is reportedly in talks with Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico Group to develop a subsea fibre cable linking their respective home countries to meet regional demand for data centre capacity.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in collaboration with other UN departments established a new body aimed at strengthening the resilience of submarine cables in response to rising outages.

Spain's leading telecom operator MasOrange has successfully completed the first 1.2Tbps data transfer over a longer distance commercial optical transmission network, using a single wavelength or channel over terrestrial cable.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies completed its 730km fibre network expansion from South Africa to Botswana in a move to bolster network resilience and capacity.

Cirion Technologies, a digital infrastructure and technology provider in Latin America, has announced the expansion of its fibre network in Mexico, with a new AI-ready fibre duct, enhancing connectivity between Mexico City and Querétaro.

Vodafone Idea is boosting its backhaul capacity and network performance with packet and optical transmission products from Tejas Networks.

State owned service provider Cabo Verde Telecom (CV Telecom) has announced an international public tender for replacing inter-island optical fibre, allowing broadband internet to be distributed throughout Cape Verde, a West African island state.

Members of the Caribbean ELIte Alliance (CELIA) consortium have announced plans for the introduction of CELIA, described as a new high-capacity ‘express’ cable in the Caribbean region connecting Aruba, Martinique, Antigua, Puerto Rico and Boca Raton in the US.

Ethio Telecom, Djibouti Telecom, and Sudatel Telecom Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a multi-terabit, redundant terrestrial fibre optic link interconnecting Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan.

Telecoms network operator Paratus Botswana announced on Wednesday it has started work on lighting a new fibre route – billed as the “SADC Highway” – that will connect Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Digital infrastructure provider WIOCC announced on Tuesday it is partnering with Nigeria’s state-owned ICT and shared services provider Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) to boost broadband infrastructure in Nigeria.

Chilean regulator Subtel says it has received four offers to carry out a feasibility study of a project to implement  the first submarine fibre optic cable between Chile and Antarctica.

Benin-based broadband provider Isocel Telecom has announced ambitious plans to expand its network to reach up to half a million households, emphasising that fibre is still essential to fill the gaps that mobile connectivity cannot yet address.

Philippine telco PLDT has reportedly launched what it’s billing as an “uninterruptible fiber internet connection” service that uses fixed wireless access (FWA) LTE as an automatic backup connection in case of a fibre outage.

Telecom Namibia says it successfully completed eight FTTx projects worth NAB35.5 million (US$1.9 million) for underserved areas in 2023 and 2024, and will invest another NAB27 million to expand its fibre access network further in the coming year.

As industries worldwide accelerate digital transformation in an AI-driven era, resilient, high-speed networks have become essential.

Global connectivity provider Angola Cables is reportedly planning to expand into Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to cash in on Africa's growing appetite for digital infrastructure – provided regulators make it easier to roll out that infrastructure.

UAE-based operator Etisalat by e& and Mauritius-based digital infrastructure provider WIOCC say they have formed a strategic partnership to integrate their subsea networks to accelerate growth of Africa’s hyperscaler ecosystem.

Cirion Technologies, a digital infrastructure and technology provider in Latin America, today announced what it describes as a new, wholly diverse and resilient Atlantic subsea route expanding fibre connectivity between Latin America and North America. It’s called the South American Crossing-2 (SAC-2) Route.

Nokia has announced its second fibre broadband partnership in South Africa in as many days – this one with ICT solutions provider Reflex and ISP Net Nine Nine, and also with the aim of expanding broadband access for underserved communities.

Nokia has announced that South African internet service provider Fibertime will deploy Nokia’s fibre solution to rapidly expand broadband access to underserved regions of South Africa.

Telecom Egypt and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) announced on Wednesday they have successfully landed the Africa-1 subsea cable system at the first of two planned landing points in Egypt.

Latin American IP transit and connectivity provider EdgeUno has announced a new fibre optic route connecting Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Saudi Arabian telco Mobily and Telecom Egypt announced on Monday that they have signed a cooperation deal to land the first subsea cable directly linking Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Malaysia’s Hexa Capital Consultancy said on Wednesday it has chosen Globe Telecom to serve as the landing party in the Philippines for its trans-Pacific Malaysia-US (MYUS) Cable System.

OMS Group, a Malaysian subsea digital infrastructure company, has signed a contract with Dutch maritime firm Royal IHC for the construction of a series of cable-laying vessels. OMS is backed by KKR, a global investment firm investing across private markets in every asset class all over the world.

IP optical networking solutions vendor Ribbon Communications announced on Friday it has successfully completed a long-haul DWDM project to upgrade Indian telco Bharti Airtel’s optical transport network.

At GITEX Global 2024, Huawei unveiled a ground-breaking innovation set to redefine the optical transport landscape — the industry's first end-to-end fine-grained Optical Transport Network (fgOTN) product portfolio.

Philippine telco PLDT announced on Wednesday it has a secured a PHP2 billion (US$34.4 million) social loan facility from HSBC Philippines to finance its fibre infrastructure rollouts to underserved and unserved communities.

Nokia announced on Tuesday it has opened its first innovation centre serving Africa and the Middle East in Morocco, which will not only provide Nokia's network infrastructure technologies to play with, but also programmes to boost digital skillsets.

Ericsson says it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UAE-based operator e& International to explore the potential for developing autonomous networks powered by AI over the next three years.