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Africa’s international Internet bandwidth sailed past the 1 Tbps mark during 2012, and jumped by 84% to reach 1.479 Tbps by December 2012. Africa previously reached 802 Gbps in December 2011 (Africa’s International Bandwidth Approaches 1 Tbps Mark), 500 Gbps in December 2010 (see Africa’s International Bandwidth Reaches 500 Gbps Mark), and the 100 Gbps mark during 2008. The increase seen during 2012 was driven principally by growth across Sub-Saharan Africa: the total of 1.479 Tbps was split between Sub Saharan Africa, which increased by 127% to reach 821 Gbps by December 2012, and North Africa which increased by 50% to reach 658 Gbps. Africa Telecom Transmission Map 2013/4 This figure of 821 Gbps for Sub-Saharan Africa is still just a fraction of the total design capacity of 25.8 Tbps on the 16 submarine cables which now serve the region. The most notable increase was in Kenya, with the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) reporting total used inbound bandwidth of 328.641... Read More →

In the twelve months since July 2011, an additional 36,165-km of terrestrial fibre optic network has entered service across Africa, according to the Q2, 2012 additions to the Africa Telecom Transmission Map. Dozens of new towns and cities have been reached by fibre networks for the first time, increasing the number of people with access to high capacity national and international backbone networks. This roll out of terrestrial networks in the last year has brought an additional 31.903 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa within reach of an operational fibre node. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the table below shows that the percentage of population within a 25-km range of an operational (terrestrial) fibre node increased from 36.3% to 40.0% in the last year, from 313.2 million people to 345.1 million. Once fibre network which is currently under construction enters service, the reach of terrestrial fibre networks will increase to 43.8% of the population (377.9 million). And once fibre network... Read More →

Africa Telecom Transmission Maps on your Smartphone The Fibre Reach mobile map application highlights the extent of Africa’s live terrestrial transmission networks, and showcases new projects as they enter service, extending the reach of high capacity transmission networks across the region. Africa's international bandwidth will reach the 1 Tbps mark during 2012, but the key to future growth is delivering bandwidth to customers inland (see Africa: Africa’s International Bandwidth Approaches 1 Tbps Mark). This map shows the 396,766 route kilometres of live terrestrial fibre optic network in Africa (Q1, 2012), and the distance to nodes on these fibre networks. Every day, Africa’s fibre transmission networks are expanding, increasing the number of people that fall within reach of one of these networks. On average, 85-kms of new terrestrial fibre optic network has entered service per day in Africa in the last year (Q1, 2012). A further 66,640-km of fibre is currently under... Read More →

Africa’s international Internet bandwidth will reach the 1 Tbps mark during 2012. By December 2011, Africa’s total international Internet bandwidth reached 801 Gbps, a 60% increase compared to 2010. This was split between North Africa which increased by 45% to reach 433 Gbps, and Sub-Saharan Africa which increased by 82% to reach 368 Gbps. Africa previously reached the 500 Gbps mark in late 2010, and the 100 Gbps mark during 2008 (see Africa’s International Bandwidth Reaches 500 Gbps Mark). This figure of 368 Gbps for Sub-Saharan Africa is just a fraction of the total design capacity of 13.959 Tbps on the 13 submarine cables serving the region in December 2011. The amount of capacity which is actually lit (activated) on these cables is increased incrementally in line with demand. Following the entry into service of the LION2 submarine cable in April 2012 (1.28 Tbps), total design capacity on submarine cables serving sub-Saharan Africa will increase again to 25.799 Tbps once the WACS... Read More →

2011 Africa Telecom Transmission Map Published Africa’s total inventory of terrestrial transmission networks increased by 15% over the last year to reach 676,739 route-kms by the end of September 2011, according to the third edition of the Africa Telecom Transmission Map. Laid end-to-end, that is enough network infrastructure to wrap around the earth almost 17 times. This compares to 660,230-kms in June 2011, 585,468-kms in June 2010 and 465,659-kms in June 2009. In the last twelve months, on average 138 route-kms of new fibre network entered service per day. (Route-kms of transmission network infrastructure are counted as the number of kilometers of cable or microwave network, irrespective of the number of optical fibres contained within each cable). By the end of the year, there will be continuous interconnected terrestrial fibre networks running from Cape Town to Cairo. The total length of operational fibre and microwave network increased by 14.5% in the last year, with... Read More →

In the twelve months since July 2010, an additional 45,498-km of terrestrial fibre optic network has entered service across Africa, according to the latest additions to the Africa Telecom Transmission Map. Dozens of new towns and cities have been reached by fibre networks for the first time, increasing the number of people with access to high capacity national and international backbone networks. This roll out of terrestrial networks in the last year has brought an additional 53.885 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa within reach of an operational fibre node, more than the population of South Africa (1). Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the table below shows that the percentage of population within a 25-km range of an operational (terrestrial) fibre node increased from 30.8% to 36.3% in the last year, from 259.328 million people to 313.213 million. Almost half of the additional 53.885 million people were in East Africa: the expansion of fibre networks in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda... Read More →

Africa’s total international Internet bandwidth reached 520 Gbps in December 2010, a 78% increase compared to 2009. This was split between North Africa, which increased by 56% to reach 312 Gbps, and Sub-Saharan Africa which increased by 125% to reach 208 Gbps. This bandwidth growth is clearly the result of the arrival of multiple, competing submarine cables last year. This has seen dramatic increases in countries connected to submarine cables for the first time: Comores Telecom for example, which was connected to EASSy in July last year, increased its Internet bandwidth from 12 Mbps in 2008 to 180 Mbps by December 2010. Meanwhile, Mauritius Telecom which was first connected to SAFE since 2002 and has also invested in the EASSy, LION, EIG, and WACS cables, initially activated four STM-1 circuits (622 Mbps) on EASSy and had increased its Internet bandwidth from 3 Gbps to 4.8 Gbps by December 2010. Growth has also been driven by the completion of cross-border backhaul routes from landlocked... Read More →

Submarine cables landing in sub-Saharan Africa currently reach 37.4 million people within a 25-km range of landing stations, equivalent to 4.4% of the total population. This will increase to 46.6 million (5.5%) once additional landing points for the WACS, ACE, and SEAS submarine cables have been completed in 2011 and 2012. The thirteen submarine cable systems with landings in sub-Saharan Africa have a total design capacity of 14.0 Tbps, which will now almost double to 25.8 Tbps by the end of 2012, but the key is delivering this capacity to customers. Africa’s terrestrial fibre optic networks reach some 259.3 million people within a 25-km range of operational fibre nodes, some 30.8% of the population. Once fibre network which is currently under construction is completed, this will grow to 313.3 million (37.2%), and if network which is currently planned or proposed is completed, this will increase again to 388.2 million (46.1%). Table: Comparison of Reach Between Submarine and Terrestrial... Read More →

2010 Africa Telecom Transmission Map and Datasets Published by Hamilton Research Africa’s build-out of telecom transmission networks has stepped up another gear. In the 12 months to June 2010, Africa’s fixed line and alternative operators brought a further 57,560-km of terrestrial fibre and microwave transmission network into service. Laid end-to-end, that is enough new operational network to wrap around the earth 1.5 times. The second edition of the Africa Telecom Transmission Map now available from Hamilton Research has been comprehensively updated to show Africa's terrestrial and submarine cable transmission networks as at June 2010. The map contains data for 113 telecom operators in 52 African countries. These transmission networks underpin the delivery of broadband data and Internet services. Africa’s total inventory of terrestrial transmission network increased by 26% in the last year to reach 585,471-kms at the end of June 2010 (465,659-km in 2009, restated to include... Read More →

New Zealand's Ministry of Economic Development first released the National Broadband Map in 2007 to comprehensively map the country's broadband landscape, and provide information and tools to aid in demand aggregation and infrastructure planning. The National Broadband Map uses Google Maps to present broadband supply and demand data.  The map shows the transmission and access networks of New Zealand's telecom operators, sources of demand from business, education and government, and allows consumers to register their demand for broadband. Source: New Zealand National Broadband Map  Read More →