Optical & Fixed Networks

French firm Global Technologies has been tasked with reviving the Central African Republic’s defunct fixed-line provider SOCATEL (Societe Africaine de Telecommunications) by the country’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT).

Recent news from the Philippines and Nigeria indicates growing penetration of broadband services, though by no means all of it is being delivered by fixed lines.

There’s a new point of presence (PoP) in Brazil from Sparkle, a leading international service provider and global operator.

Nokia has announced plans to deploy an internet gateway for a government-owned network in Iraq.

A US telecoms infrastructure company offered to deploy 5G networks in Jamaica for free, in exchange for gradual eventual revenues over time garnered in the country.

Telecom Egypt, which provides fixed and mobile voice and data services to Egyptian customers, and the government of St Helena have signed an agreement to connect the island to Telecom Egypt’s subsea system over the Equiano submarine cable system.

Indian networking products company Tejas Networks has been selected by C3ntro Telecom to upgrade the high-speed backbone and broadband network of the Mexico-based wholesale carrier.

Israeli operator Bezeq made good on a pledge to expand its fibre optic network with the completion of its fibre optic rollout in the town of Metulla, marking the first community in Israel to be entirely connected to the operator’s fibre network.

The Kenya government announced it will lay 630km of fibre optic between the towns of Eldoret to Nadapal, to deliver high-speed internet services and increase trade in east Africa.

The Nzadi Cable System Project, which will be implemented in waters offshore Angola, is now under way.

Japan, the US and Australia will fund the construction of a subsea cable connecting the Pacific archipelago islands of Palau, a move against Chinese influence in the region, reported Nikkei Asian Review.

Chilean telecommunications watchdog Subtel announced a search for partners to finance a project to lay subsea fibre optic cables to connect South America to the Asia-Pacific region.

A reminder of one of the problems that undersea connectivity can bring comes from Bangladesh where undersea cable maintenance is under way, bringing some disruption to internet connectivity.

Benin-based ISP Isocel received a loan of €6 million from French public investment bank Bpifrance to expand its fibre optic network.

Infinera and Seaborn Networks have launched new submarine network services on Seaborn’s AMX-1 submarine network segment connecting the U.S. and Brazil.

Philippines operator Globe Telecom made good on a pledge to upgrade its broadband network, stating 40% of targeted customers have been migrated to higher speed networks for free.

Bharti Airtel is planning a massive expansion in its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband service offering, according to a number of Indian press reports.

MTN Zambia has partnered with ZTE to construct a cross-border optical transmission network backbone in Zambia.

Orange is expanding its fibre networks in two of its markets – Poland and Cote d’Ivoire.

Huawei has announced full upgrades to its intelligent IP network solutions to create new drivers for industry digital transformation.

Chile’s Mundo Pacifico is looking to climb up the country’s fibre broadband rankings by becoming the second firm in the world to adopt the HyperNET solution.

Brazil-based Internet service provider Triple Play Participacoes set October 14 for its initial public offering.

Filipino operator PLDT has stated that it will migrate all customers still using its legacy copper wire network onto fibre within the next 18 months.

Croatian operator Hrvatski Telecom kicked off plans in upgrading its HRK19 million ($3 million) fibre-optic network, pledging to connect thousands of premises to 100Mbps connectivity speed.

According to a report last week from Ecofin news agency, Algeria can soon expect reinforcements to its existing compliment of undersea fibre connections.

There's more news on the planned Singapore India Gateway (SING) cable system, for which a new contract has just been announced.

Papua New Guinea is set to gain a greenfield 4G mobile network, as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $25 million investment into a project for its construction in the Pacific country.

Avaroa Cable and Vodafone Cook Islands have signed a multi-year partnership for use of the Manatua Cable.

Algeria is issuing its three mobile operators with additional spectrum holdings in a bid to restore connectivity after extensive network outages.

The MIST cable system is on its way – and Orient Link, which provides construction, sales, operations and maintenance for submarine cables, and NEC Corporation, a leading name in the integration of IT and network technologies, have signed an agreement to build it.

Vogel Telecom, a leading wholesale carrier in Brazil, has deployed the Groove (GX) Series G30 Compact Modular Platform from networking solutions provider Infinera to double capacity on its network.

Indian press reports say that prime minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the new submarine optical fibre cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair, in what appears to have been a virtual ceremony using videoconferencing.