Optical & Fixed Networks

Google has announced plans for yet another subsea cable. This one, called Apricot, will connect Singapore, Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia. The Apricot cable is expected to be ready for service in 2024.

2Africa, not only Africa’s biggest subsea project but, the consortium behind it says, the largest subsea cable project in the world, is in the news again with plans for more branches.

Global infrastructure operator Telxius said that its new Mistral subsea cable is now ready for service. Running up the western coast of South America, the Mistral cable links Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to lend up to PLN 325 million (approximately $83.2 million) to Polish infrastructural telecommunications group Nexera to help finance the rollout of a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) access network.

Argentina's telecommunications regulator Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (Enacom) approved funding totalling ARS 671.6 million (USD 33.5 million) to improve broadband connectivity in the country.

A new subsea and terrestrial system linking Europe, the Middle East and India is on the way – and a specialist investment trust has announced a significant financial input into the project.

Uruguay’s state operator Antel is aiming to invest US$147 million into upgrading its fibre-optic network throughout 2022.

International service provider Sparkle has announced a collaboration with Google, among a number of other companies, to build the Blue and Raman submarine cable systems. Blue will connect Italy, France, Greece and Israel, while Raman will connect Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman and India.

Libya's state-owned operator Hatif Libya has signed an agreement to improve its fibre-optic network with US-based company Infinera. Hatif Libya is a subsidiary of the Libyan Telecommunication Holding Company (LPTIC).

Driven by a continuous rise in high fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) subscriptions and FTTH average revenue per user (ARPU), China’s fixed broadband service revenue is poised to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6% between 2021 and 2026, said a study.

The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA), a government statutory agency, has launched a basic fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband package with a minimum connection speed of 100Mbps.

Bolivia is to expand its deployment of fibre and of cellular antennas to more municipalities across the country’s nine departments, according to recent reports from the Bolivian public works, services and housing ministry.

The DRC’s state-owned provider SCPT (Societe Congolaise des Postes et Telecommunications) has signed a US$35 million infrastructure modernisation agreement with LMS Holding.

Eight ISPs in the Brazilian Northeastern states of Paraiba, Pernambuco, Ceara, and Rio Grande do Norte have merged to create Proxxima Telecomunicacoes, with 95,000 subscribers and 350,000 households connected to fibre.

Uzbekistan’s state provider Uzbektelecom claims to have made significant strides in its push to replace its copper communication networks with fibre-optic infrastructure.

Ukraine's monopolist telephone company Ukrtelecom JSC has expanded the coverage of its fibre-optic network in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Chilean telecommunications regulator the Subsecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel) has announced the launch of a public tender for the deployment of a fibre optic project in the country’s Tarapacá region.

Users of fixed and mobile networks in Vietnam are facing connectivity issues once again after the latest round of problems affecting the Asia America Gateway (AAG) cable.

Special purpose vehicle Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), on behalf of India's Department of Telecommunication (DoT), came out with a global tender for the development of BharatNet through public private partnership (PPP) in nine separate packages across 16 States for a concession period of 30 years.

Tower Infrastructure Trust (Tower InvIT) which is sponsored by Brookfield and backed by leading global infrastructure investors has struck a deal to acquire telecom infrastructure provider Space Teleinfra (STIPL), a leading indoor coverage solutions provider in India, for an equity consideration of Rs 900 crore (USD 121 million).

A 22km interconnected fibre optic network linking Cameroon and Gabon is now officially launched and operational.

Telefonica Colombia, a subsidiary of the Spanish telecom group Telefonica, and KKR, a global investment firm, have announced an agreement to establish Colombia’s first independent nationwide open access wholesale digital infrastructure company.

Five of the largest network operators in the Middle East have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that commits them to the support and deployment of Open RAN technology in their future infrastructure rollouts.

India’s second-largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel has expanded its relationship with Cisco to bring secure access service edge (SASE) capabilities to its Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) customers.

Wateen Telecom, a Pakistan-based converged communication services provider, and Telenor Pakistan, an operator and part of the multinational Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor, have announced a partnership.

Mexico’s Megacable, the second largest multiple system operator in Mexico, has now received over 500,000 optical network units (ONTs), courtesy, it says, of ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the mobile internet.

Orange Poland (Orange Polska) has transferred to its joint venture Swiatlowod Inwesticje (Fibre-Optic Investments) fibre connections covering around 672,000 households, as the new company starts operations.

Telecommunications company Telefonica, whose operations in Brazil are branded as ‘Vivo’, has announced that the neutral fibre network operator FiBrasil has officially started operating in the country.

Liquid Technologies has partnered with Facebook to build an extensive long haul and metro fibre network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Armenia is set for nationwide gigabit broadband over passive optical network (PON) following a new agreement between Telecom Armenia and Nokia.

The now-live Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable is interconnecting at three of Teraco’s data centres across South Africa, expanding access to broadband connectivity and digital services in Africa.

In 2024, Orange Polska plans to have 8 million households within the reach of the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) - said the president of Orange, Julien Ducarroz, during the presentation of the new Group strategy for 2021-2024.

Pakistan’s state provider PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited) has contracted Huawei to upgrade its IP Edge and Optical Transport Network (OTN) infrastructure.