Optical & Fixed Networks

Japan’s SoftBank announced on Monday that it has formed a consortium with Meta, IPS, Telekom Malaysia and XLSmart to develop a new subsea cable system connecting Japan and Singapore, with several other stops in Southeast Asia.

Rakuten Symphony has announced a collaboration with Bangladeshi operator Grameenphone to build an Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN), making it one of the first pilots of the technology in South Asia.

Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (YOFC) made a strong impact at the 26th China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE), held from September 10 to 12, 2025 at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center. Under the theme “Optical Fibre Leads the Way, AI Shapes the Future”, the company presented solutions across six major key application areas: AI Intelligent Computing Hub, Specialized Optical Communications, Intellisense, Industrial Laser, All-Optical Intelligent Vehicle, and Sustainable Lighting. Together, these exhibits demonstrated YOFC’s next-generation optical innovations and the continued expansion of its broad technology portfolio.

The Barat Timur Indonesia (BTI) subsea cable system being developed by Indonesian operator Super Sistem and APTelecom has cleared a key hurdle after the partners secured corridor approval for the system from relevant authorities.

ZTE said on Monday it has formed a strategic partnership with Sacofa – a telecoms infrastructure provider in East Malaysia owned by the Sarawak government – to modernise its fibre infrastructure network.

EXA Infrastructure has announced plans to deploy a new fibre backbone connecting Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary to its network in Germany and Austria, which it claims will be the largest pan-European backbone fibre deployment in Central Europe in the last 25 years.

Nokia has announced that it has been selected by Indian next-generation connectivity solutions provider Vortex Group to modernise its IP edge and transport network across the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west of India, and Goa in the southwest.

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the Costa Rican government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider, has announced that it will boost its current international capacity 23-fold through the integration of the Trans Americas Fiber Systems submarine cable TAM-1.

Djibouti Telecom has announced plans to extend the regional subsea cable, Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE1), southward along Africa’s east coast to broaden reach and enhance route diversity.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin said it has signed an MoU with Malaysian engineering company ITCO Niaga to collaborate on planning and development of the Indonesia Cable Express II (ICE II) subsea cable system that now includes landing stations in eastern Malaysia.

There’s been a flurry of submarine cable deals in Iraq recently, including two contracts announced this week, one with Batelco and the other involving a company called Breeze Investments.

Liberty Networks has revealed plans to replace its MAYA-1 subsea cable route in the Caribbean with a new system – dubbed MAYA-1.2 – with fewer landing points but double the capacity of the original network.

NaiTel, a licensed telecommunications service provider in Jordan and the telecom arm of Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH – Jordan's largest carrier-neutral data centre), and telecom services provider Telecom Egypt, have announced the completion of the laying of the 15-kilometre express subsea cable Coral Bridge connecting Egypt and Jordan, the first direct subsea cable between the two countries in over 25 years.

Technology giant Nokia says it has been selected by INX-ZA, the internet exchange point division of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), a South African internet industry representative body, to modernise its exchange infrastructure. INX-ZA says it operates the only completely neutral and community-run internet exchange points in South Africa.

Nokia announced on Wednesday that Indian ISP Netplus has deployed its 400G routing technology and software-defined access network (SDAN) platform to scale its high-speed broadband and IPTV services across Punjab and other cities.

State-owned Telkom Indonesia said on Monday it is set to carry out repairs on a damaged subsea cable that has disrupted internet connectivity in South and Central Papua since Saturday.

The East Micronesia Cable System (EMCS) officially landed in Nauru on Saturday, making it the second of four landing points to be completed for the Pacific islands subsea cable system.

Guyana telco ENet says it has completed a multibillion-dollar subsea cable connecting the town of Bartica – billed as the gateway to Guyana’s interior – to its fibre-optic backbone.

MX Fiber has tapped Nokia for a new high-speed optical transport backbone network which will deliver reliable, high-capacity connectivity across Southeast Mexico.

Uzbektelecom (a.k.a. Uztelecom ) announced on Saturday that it will focus on deploying high-speed GPON and FTTx solutions across Uzbekistan starting this month as part of its telecoms infrastructure modernisation programme.

Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom have entered the active phase of deploying the long-planned Trans-Caspian Submarine Cable System that will cross the Caspian Sea to connect Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Philippine broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions said on Thursday it has landed the Philippine branch of the trans-pacific Bifrost Cable System at its cable landing station in Davao.

Mauritania’s digital transformation ministry MTNMA (Ministère de la Transformation Numérique et de la Modernisation de l’Administration) and EllaLink, the owner of a high-capacity optic fibre submarine cable directly connecting Europe and Latin America, have signed a contract for the construction, operation and maintenance of an international link that will directly connect Mauritania to Madrid in Spain.

Nokia revealed on Wednesday that Indonesian digital infrastructure provider Solusi Sinergi Digital (a.k.a. Surge) has deployed its subsea optical solution in a new subsea fibre network connecting Jakarta and Singapore.

India’s Birla Cable, a fibre optic cable manufacturer, and Nedia Fiber, a US-based optical fibre cable supplier, have formed a strategic alliance to accelerate the delivery of high-performance fibre optic solutions across the Americas.

PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications announced on Tuesday that it has conducted a successful lab test of optical transport network disaggregation technology that it hopes to use to make its transport network more open, agile, efficient and flexible.

Nokia announced on Monday that it is supplying its subsea optical solutions for the Medusa Submarine Cable System owned by AFR-IX Telecom that aims to connect North Africa and Europe when it goes live later this year.

Algerian operator Algerie Telecom, which offers a wide range of fixed-line, internet and enterprise solutions and Sparkle, an Italian international service provider, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of a new subsea cable linking Italy and Algeria.

International network services provider RETN announced on Tuesday it has upgraded its Lithuanian fibre network ring connecting Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys to support growing data traffic demand in the Baltic region.

Digital infrastructure provider WIOCC said on Wednesday it has signed a framework agreement with Mozambique’s national telco Tmcel to collaborate on high-capacity connectivity solutions across Mozambique and the Southern African region.

State-owned Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation (TTLC) and Kenya’s ICT Authority (ICTA) have implemented and launched a new terrestrial fibre link connecting Dar-Es-Salaam to Mombasa.

Liberia’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has launched a collaborative initiative with the ECOWAS Commission for Infrastructure, Energy, and Digitalization and the World Bank to deploy a second subsea cable connecting Liberia and four other West African countries.