Optical & Fixed Networks

STC Group-owned company center3 and Alcatel Submarine Networks are planning to connect Saudi Arabia with Europe by building the EMC West subsea and terrestrial data cables.

Analytics firm GlobalData has forecast Indonesia's fixed communications services market revenue to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% from $1.2 billion in 2022 to $1.7 billion by 2027.

Angola Cables and Orange have agreed to an infrastructure sharing agreement on the West African Djoliba Network.

Uzbektelecom, which operates as Uztelecom, is pushing high speed fibre broadband access across Uzbekistan by deploying AirPON (Air Passive Optical Network) fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) technology.

Bahrain-headquartered technology group Beyon has made a number of significant announcements relating to digital infrastructure that will, it says, support the acceleration of Bahrain’s digital transformation and the growth of the country’s digital economy.

International network services provider RETN has announced that it has completed the second phase of its Budapest to Sofia ring, achieving, it says, 100% network diversity from Budapest in Hungary to Sofia in Bulgaria via Romania.

West African internet service provider Tizeti has expanded its collaboration with Microsoft to bring internet access to almost five million people in Cote d’Ivoire.

Liquid Dataport, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, has launched what it describes as the first terrestrial fibre route connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg.

Cambodia’s Minister of Post and Telecommunications, Chea Vandeth, has announced government plans for a submarine cable connection from Hong Kong to Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh in 2024.

RETN, an international network service provider, has announced the launch of a new fibre route connecting Berlin in Germany and Poznan and Warsaw in Poland.

Cuba's second-ever submarine cable, connecting Cuba to Martinique and deployed by Orange, is now being tested. The testing process began in April.

Flō Networks, a provider of digital infrastructure solutions, has announced that it has completed the acquisition of American Tower's Mexico fibre business, ATC Holding Fibra México (known commercially as redIT), and its high-capacity fibre optic network, which maintains a dense presence in over 40 cities throughout Mexico.

Vietnamese technology giant FPT is said to be planning to build a cable to connect Vietnam with the undersea Asia Link Cable.

Tanzania's incumbent telecom operator Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) has signed a Tsh 37.3 billion (US$15.9 million) contract with tech giant Huawei for the extension of the country’s National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) to 23 districts.

Submarine cable activity seems to be far from slowing down in Africa. In fact plans for two more cables, one connecting France and Tunisia and one involving the ECOWAS region, have recently been announced.

Nokia has announced the results of a trial conducted last year over a 3,551 km subsea cable between Jurong in Singapore and Manado in Indonesia – and they are pretty impressive.

Customers of Icosnet , Algeria’s sole private ISP provider, will now be able to access Liquid Dataport’s digital communication services following a new agreement between the firms.

Nokia is supplying its WDM optical network solutions for Lightstorm’s network expansion into the Eastern and Northern regions of India.

The latest landing of the 2Africa cable has been announced: it’s at Port Said, at the northern end of the Suez Canal, on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.

Netplus Broadband, North India’s leading wireline internet service provider, has chosen OcNOS from IP Infusion, a provider of open network software and solutions for wireline and mobile network operators, to strengthen and scale its network as the company expands broadband services to all its customers across the region.

Brazilian broadband provider Unifique struck a deal to acquire regional provider Brick Servicos Digitais for BRL10 million (US$2 million), reported BNamericas.

Telekom Malaysia completed its new fibre optic hub across the northern regions of Sabah and Sarawak to connect remote locations situated there.

Total fixed communication services revenue in India is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4% from US$10.2 billion in 2022 to US$13.9 billion in 2027, mainly driven by the strong growth in the fixed broadband segment. That’s the view of data and analytics company GlobalData in its India Fixed Communications Forecast (Q1 2023).

Telecoms infrastructure provider Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) secured a US$20 million loan with plans to spend the cash on mobile towers to connect deep rural locations in six new African countries.

The Guinean government granted infrastructure provider Guineenne de Fibre Optique (GFO) permission to sell interconnection services and optical fibre transport to operators in Guinea.

Nokia has deployed 25Gbps-capable PON-based fibre broadband access technology for Vodafone Qatar in the Msheireb Smart City district.

A new internet exchange has been launched in Manila in the Philippines by two major players in ICT service provision and interconnection platforms.

Philippines-based Eastern Communications budgeted PHP1 billion (US$19.1 million) in capex to bolster operations on the islands of Visayas and Mindanao, and complete a subsea cable, reported Philstar.

Fast Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) subsidiary of network solutions company Paratus Group, has announced that its 620-kilometre fibre optic network link between Muanda on the West Coast and the capital, Kinshasa, is now active.  The fibre link will deliver high-speed connectivity to the region through Paratus Group’s pan-African network.

Claro Argentina has signed a collaboration deal with Empatel, an Argentinean service provider based in the remote La Pampa province.