Pakistan operator Jazz, a major internet and mobile broadband provider, has signed an agreement with fibre infrastructure and services provider Nayatel, through which it will connect all of its mobile towers directly to fibre in Lahore. This fibre to the site (FTTS) project is expected to be completed by December 2022.
The partners say that FTTS enables each cell site to carry up to 10Gbps of traffic at significantly lower latencies and enhances network availability and resilience. Jazz adds that, after the project is completed, its subscribers will experience faster download speeds, lag-free online gaming, and improved audio and video calls over IP applications.
The operator expects that the infrastructure will pave the way for future technologies, such as 5G and 6G, which require low latency and high-throughput backhaul to operate.
In the last two years, Jazz says it has invested US$560 million towards its strategic focus on connecting the unconnected to high-speed internet, and upgrading its 4G infrastructure to meet growing bandwidth demand.
The mobile operator says it currently has a vast fibre network carrying live customer traffic across 26 cities. Plans are underway for further expansions targeting 70% FTTS penetration in the next five years. A densely fiberised, future-ready network will, Jazz says, form the foundation for many next-generation services such as 5G, FTTH, IoT, enterprise networks, and Industry 4.0.
