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Zambia’s utilised international Internet bandwidth reached 345.4 Gbps by June 2024, according to latest figures published by ZICTA (Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority). This was a 95% increase compared to 177.4 Gbps in June 2023, with ZICTA also reporting 177.1 Gbps by December 2023, 124.4 Gbps in 2022, 98.3 Gbps in 2021, 95.2 Gbps in 2020, and 80.4 Gbps in 2019 (see also Zambia: International Internet Bandwidth Reaches 177.1 Gbps, Dec 2023). The total equipped international capacity of wholesale carriers reached 1.080 Tbps by June 2024, compared to 976 Gbps by December 2023, 974.6 Gbps in June 2023 and 840.2 Gbps in December 2022. “This growth was mostly attributed to increased capacity by Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Global Connect in the first half of 2024,” said ZICTA in its 2024 mid-year market report, adding that “the increased network capacity and utilization stems from the increasing demand for broadband services amongst consumers.

ZICTA also reported that the total fibre inventory of Zambia reached 37,770.3-km by June 2024, compared to 31,915-km by December 2023, and 28,700-km in June 2023. This includes the fibre optic networks of Fibrecom (18,000-km, compared to 12,000-km in December 2023), Telesonic (6,544-km; 6,544-km in Dec 2023), Global Connect Zambia/ Bayobab (7,116.8-km; 5,905-km in Dec 2023), Zamtel (1,876-km; 1,876-km in Dec 2023), Liquid (2,002-km; 1,420-km in Dec 2023), BCS (1,351.5-km; 1,166.5-km in Dec 2023), and Paratus (880-km; 700-km in Dec 2023). “Fibercom remains the operator with the widest fibre-optic network coverage in the country extending to a total length of about 18,000 km in June 2024, increasing from 12,000 km in June 2023 with several gateways to the undersea cables”, reported ZICTA.

Source: ZICTA