On 3 March 2020, the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) announced that the national fibre optic networks in Sierra Leone and neighbouring Guinea were connected at Gbalamuya, Kambia district on 28 February. According to a press release, the interconnection was completed in collaboration with major stakeholders including the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), the Sierra Leone Cable Ltd (SALCAB), Post, Telecommunications & Radio Authority (ARPT Guinea), the National Backbone Management and Operating Company (SOGEB Guinea), and Afritek Guinea. NATCOM says that the cross-border interconnection between Sierra Leone and Guinea provides redundancy for both countries: if the ACE submarine cable suffers an outage via the landing point in Sierra Leone at Freetown then Guinea will provide automatic through the interconnected fibre link at Gbalamuya, and vice versa if the cable suffers ab outage via the landing point... Read More →
Blog
Log In
Language
Archives
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
Sierra Leone: Terrestrial Cross-Border Fibre Interconnect Completed Between Sierra Leone And Guinea Conakry
Filed under: Fibre Long Haul Tags: Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe’s Used International Bandwidth Increases by 38% During 2019
Zimbabwe’s used incoming international Internet bandwidth reached 116.927 Gbps by the end of December 2019, according to latest statistics released by the Postal and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ). This was a 38% increase compared to 84.683 in December 2018 (see also Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe’s Used International Bandwidth Increases by 76% During 2018). This total of 116.927 Gbps in December 2019 was split between Liquid Telecom with 59.4% (69.446 Gbps), TelOne with 34.2% (40.000 Gbps), Powertel with 4.3% (5.000 Gbps), and Dandemutande with 2.1% (2.496 Gbps). In its Q4 2019 sector performance report, POTRAZ reports that the equipped international bandwidth reached 127.715 Gbps in December 2019, a 12.6% increase compared to 113.405 Gbps in December 2018. POTRAZ also reports that the number of active fibre links reached 39,880 in December 2019, compared to 39,377 in 2018, 31,455 in 2017, compared to 19,698 in 2016, 13,849 in 2015, and 2,758 in 2014. Source: POTRAZ Read More →
Guinea Conakry: 4,352-Km Of National Fibre Backbone Completed
The total length of Guinea’s national fibre optic backbone which has been completed reached 4,352-km during Q1 2020, according to Société de Gestion et d’Exploitation du Backbone National (SOGEB). This compared to a total length of 4,050-km by Q1 2019 (see Guinea Conakry: Guinea’s Fibre Inventory Reaches 5,000-Km), 3,138-km by Q2 2018 (see Guinea Conakry: 3,138-Km Of National Fibre Backbone Completed), and 1,200-km by the end of 2016 (see Guinea Conakry: First 1,200-Km Of National Fibre Backbone Planned For Completion By End 2016). The Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and New Information Technologies first announced plans to deploy the national fibre backbone in February 2012 (see Guinea Conakry: Guinea Plans 4,000-Km National Fibre Backbone), in December 2012 the government awarded the contract to Huawei (see Guinea Conakry: Huawei Wins USD 238 Million Contract To Deploy National Fibre Backbone), and in July 2015 Huawei started construction of the network (see Guinea Conakry:... Read More →
Rwanda: Rwanda’s International Bandwidth Increases By 80% During 2019
Rwanda reached an inbound international Internet bandwidth of 98.480 Gbps in December 2019, according to latest figures published by the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Agency (RURA). This was an 80% increase compared to 54.874 Gbps in December 2017, 25.370 Gbps in 2017, 10.362 Gbps in 2016, and 3.085 Gbps in 2012 (see Rwanda: Rwanda’s International Bandwidth Increases By 116% During 2018). Rwanda’s international bandwidth was 87.154 Gbps in September 2019, 64.548 Gbps in June 2019, and 62.124 Gbps in March 2019 according to RURA. The international bandwidth of 98.480 Gbps in December 2019 was split between Liquid Telecom (70 Gbps, compared to 33.0 Gbps in 2018 and 10.0 Gbps in 2017), MTN Rwanda (7.473 Gbps, compared to 6.449 Gbps in 2018 and 3.875 Gbps in 2017), Airtel/ TiGO (6.400 Gbps, compared to 5.700 Gbps in 2018; Airtel 1.870 Gbps in 2017 and TiGO 1.2 Gbps in 2017), BSC (5.900 Gbps, compared to 5.415 Gbps in 2018; 5.415 Gbps in 2017), KTRN (6.533 Gbps, compared to 2.860 Gbps... Read More →
Djibouti: Djibouti Telecom Renovates Terrestrial Fibre Optic Links To Ethiopia
Filed under: Capacity, Fibre Long Haul Tags: Djibouti, Ethiopia
On 10 March 2020, Djibouti Telecom announced that it is renovating its terrestrial fibre optic links to neighbouring Ethiopia. According to a company press release, the operator is renovating the 300-km routes from Djibouti – Galileh, and Djibouti – Galafi with 144 core G652D fibre optic cables. These diverse buried fibre optic routes to the border with Ethiopia are also protected by redundant fibre routes along an aerial OPGW power cable fibre link, and a fibre link along the railway network connecting Addis Ababa to Djibouti via Dire Dawa and Dewele (see Ethiopia: Ethio Telecom And Djibouti Telecom To Use Railway Communication Fibre For Telecom Services). With seven operational submarine cables currently landing in Djibouti, Djibouti Telecom provides international Internet bandwidth to Ethio Telecom. In 2016 Ethio Telecom reported that its international Internet bandwidth was 37.5 Gbps, of which 14.9 Gbps was provided via Djibouti (see Ethiopia: Ethiopia’s International Bandwidth... Read More →
Seychelles: Seychelles International Bandwidth Increases By 59% During 2019
The inbound international Internet bandwidth of Seychelles reached 8.485 Gbps in December 2019 according to latest statistics released by the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), a 59% increase compared with 5.34 in December 2018 (see also Seychelles: Seychelles International Bandwidth Increases By 45% During 2018). This compared with 3.688 in December 2017, 2.791 Gbps in 2016, 2.092 Gbps in 2015, 1.465 Gbps in 2014, 1.110 Gbps in 2013, 678.4 Mbps in 2012, and 220 Mbps in 2011. The total international bandwidth (uplink plus downlink) reported by DICT was 16.970 Gbps in 2019, compared to 10.688 Gbps in 2018, 7.294 Gbps in 2017, 5.500 Gbps in 2016, 4.113 Gbps in 2015, 2.833 Gbps in 2014, 2.135 Gbps in 2013, 1.239 Gbps in 2012, and 289 Mbps in 2011. The Seychelles is currently served by one submarine cable (SEAS), with a second (PEACE) due to be completed during 2020. In May 2012, the 1,930-km Seychelles East Africa System (SEAS) submarine cable connecting Seychelles... Read More →
Kenya: DARE 1 Submarine Cable Lands In Mombasa, Completion Scheduled For June 2020
Filed under: Fibre Long Haul, Submarine Cable Tags: Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia
On 7 March 2020, Telkom Kenya announced that the Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE 1) submarine cable had landed in Mombasa. In January 2020, Djibouti Telecom, Somtel and Telkom Kenya announced that the installation of the DARE 1 submarine cable was underway, and that the cable had landed at La Siesta Beach in Djibouti (see Djibouti: DARE 1 Submarine Cable Lands In Djibouti, Completion Scheduled For June 2020). The installation of the 4,854-km DARE 1 submarine cable is scheduled to be completed in March 2020, according to a company press release, and the entire system is on track to be ready for provisional acceptance in June 2020. According to a company press release, Telkom Kenya says that DARE 1 is a USD 86 million investment, and that the 36 Tbps cable will provide additional transmission options in Kenya and the greater East Africa region, having the largest cable capacity of all the submarine cables that land at Mombasa. In May 2016, a consortium of operators signed the Construction... Read More →
South Sudan: Liquid Telecom Completes South Sudan’s First International Fibre Link, From Juba To Nimule (Uganda)
Filed under: Capacity, Fibre Long Haul, Fibre Metro Tags: South Sudan, Uganda
Liquid Telecom has announced that during January 2020 it has completed the construction of a 200-km fibre optic route connecting the capital city Juba to the border of Uganda through Nimule. This is South Sudan’s first international fibre optic link, and from the border with Uganda connects to Liquid Telecom’s 70,000-km regional fibre optic network and submarine cables landing in Mombasa (Kenya). In July 2019, Liquid Telecom announced that it had signed an agreement with the Government of South Sudan’s National Communication Authority to build a fibre optic link from Juba to Uganda, and had started construction (see South Sudan: Liquid Telecom Starts Construction Of 300-Km Fibre Route From Juba To Uganda). The operator said in a company press release that this marks the completion of the first phase of its project in South Sudan, adding that it had also completed multiple metropolitan fibre optic network clusters in Juba by January 2020, and in subsequent phases plans to expand the... Read More →
Somalia: DARE 1 Submarine Cable Lands In Mogadishu and Bossaso
Filed under: Submarine Cable Tags: Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia
On 19 February, Djibouti Telecom announced that the Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE 1) submarine cable had landed in Mogadishu and Bossaso en route from Djibouti to Mombasa (Kenya). In January 2020, Djibouti Telecom, Somtel and Telkom Kenya announced that the installation of the DARE 1 submarine cable was underway, and that the cable had landed at La Siesta Beach in Djibouti (see Djibouti: DARE 1 Submarine Cable Lands In Djibouti, Completion Scheduled For June 2020). The installation of the 4,854-km DARE 1 submarine cable is scheduled to be completed in March 2020, according to a company press release, and the entire system is on track to be ready for provisional acceptance in June 2020. In May 2016, a consortium of operators signed the Construction and Maintenance Agreement (C&MA) for the DARE submarine cable, awarding the supply contract to TE Subcom (see Djibouti: Djibouti Africa Regional Express (DARE) Consortium Sign Construction and Maintenance Agreement). Source: Djibouti... Read More →
Tunisia: Tunisia’s International Bandwidth Reaches 780 Gbps In 2019
Tunisia’s international Internet bandwidth reached 780 Gbps in December 2019, according to latest statistics published by Instance Nationale des Télécommunications (INTT), a growth rate of 81% compared to 430 Gbps in December 2018 (see Tunisia: Tunisia’s International Bandwidth Reaches 430 Gbps In 2018). Of this total equipped capacity of 780 Gbps, INTT report that 486.2 Gbps was utilised by December 2019, compared to 450.9 Gbps in November and 412.4 Gbps in October. The Ministère des Technologies de l'information et de la Communication (Mincom) previously reported that Tunisia’s international bandwidth was 180 Gbps in December 2015, 130 Gbps in December 2014, and 90 Gbps in December 2013. Source: Instance Nationale des Télécommunications (INTT) Read More →