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 and Tanzania for example increased the number of people within reach of an operational fibre node by 25.645 million between them.
Table: Population Within Reach Of Operational Fibre Networks, Sub-Saharan Africa 2010 – 2011
| Year | % Popn 10-km | % Popn 25-km | % Popn 50-km | Popn 10-km | Popn 25-km | Popn 50-km | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrestrial Fibre Node | July 2010 | 15.6% | 30.8% | 47.7% | 131,230,412 | 259,327,721 | 401,057,432 |
| Terrestrial Fibre Node | July 2011 | 18.6% | 36.3% | 56.1% | 160,608,284 | 313,212,515 | 483,931,088 |
| Change, July 2010 - July 2011 | 3.0% | 5.5% | 8.4% | 29,377,872 | 53,884,794 | 82,873,656 | |
| Submarine Cable Landing Point | July 2010 | 1.8% | 4.4% | 5.9% | 15,228,657 | 37,435,945 | 49,784,793 |
| Submarine Cable Landing Point | July 2011 | 1.8% | 4.4% | 5.9% | 15,228,657 | 37,435,945 | 49,784,793 |
| Change, July 2010 - July 2011 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Source: Hamilton Research.
Notes: (1) South Africa’s population was 50.59 million in July 2011 (source: Stats SA, Mid-Year Population Estimates). (2) A country-by-country breakdown of these data for fibre reach are published as datasets for subscribers.
Whilst the fibre networks under deployment enter service, the inventory of new fibre networks going into construction has meanwhile continued to grow. The amount of fibre network which is currently under construction has increased by 15,975-km during the last year, from 45,391-km in July 2010 to 61,365-km in July 2011. When in turn this fibre which is under construction enters service over the months to come, the total population within reach of a fibre network will increase again, by a further 41.891 million to reach 355.104 million (41.2% of the population).
Over the same period, the reach of submarine cables has remained the same at 4.4% of the population (37.436 million). Although the Main-1 and GLO-1 cables have entered service during the year, they land in cities that were already served by submarine cables (Lagos and Accra). When the WACS cable enters service it will be the first to land in Namibia, DRC, Congo and Togo. This will be followed by ACE (which will be the first to land in Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe), LION2 will be the first to land in Mayotte, and the SEAS cable will be the first to land in Seychelles. Once these four cables enter service, the total population within a 25-km range of a submarine cable landing station will increase by 9 million, from 37.436 million to 46.625 million (see also Submarine Cables Reach 4.4% of Africa’s Population, Terrestrial Fibre Networks Reach 31%).
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Africa Telecom Transmission Map Updates Q2, 2011
By July 2011, Africa’s total inventory of terrestrial transmission networks reached 660,230-km, compared to 585,468-kms in June 2010 and 465,659 in June 2009. A total of 372 changes were made to terrestrial transmission networks on the map during the second quarter of 2011, with key changes made to the map in Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Mauritania, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This included 12,342.6-km of operational fibre, 6,820.9-km of fibre under construction, 439.2-km of fibre which was planned, and 283.1-km of fibre which was proposed. A further 4,039-km of microwave network was either added or edited to the map.
Fibre Long Haul
- Burundi: ZTE Awarded Contract For 1,300-Km Burundi Backbone System, First Phase Due For Completion In Q1, 2012
- Mauritania: Mauritel Awards Contract To Huawei For 1,000-Km Fibre Link From Nouakchott To Kobéni
- Morocco: Maroc Telecom Expands Fibre Backbone To 24,400-Kms, Increases Int’l Bandwidth To 60 Gbps
- Nigeria: AFL Supplies Aerial Fibre To Dancom Technologies, Rollout In Niger Delta Completed.
- South Africa: DFA Completes Fibre Route From Gauteng To Mtunzini, Starts 160-Km Route From Cape Town To Yzerfontein
- South Africa: FibreCo Plans Completion of First Phase of National Long Haul Fibre Network By End 2012
- Zimbabwe: TelOne Commences Work On 1,340-Km Harare – Beitbridge Fibre Link
Cross-Border Routes
- Ethiopia: ETC To Activate Capacity Through Kenya To Mombasa, Plans Second Fibre Route to Djibouti
- Malawi: Gateway Communications Launches Terrestrial Fibre Connectivity To Malawi
- Nigeria: Phase 3 Telecom Awards Contract To INEO Energie To Expand Cross-Border Aerial Fibre Network
- Senegal: Sonatel Completes Fibre Route from Tambacounda to Kédougou On Border with Guinea
- Zambia: ZAMTEL Completes New Fibre Route From Lusaka To Katima Mulilo On Namibian Border
- Zimbabwe: Liquid Telecom Completes Civil Works on Fibre Routes To Zambia and Botswana
Submarine Cables
- Africa: Main One and SEACOM Interconnect West and East African Cable Systems Via Europe
- Africa: WIOCC Interconnects With Global Crossing Tier-1 MPLS Network To Expand Global Footprint
- Nigeria: Main One Interconnects With Global Crossing Tier-1 MPLS Network To Expand Global Footprint
- South Africa: WACS Cable Lands at Yzerfontein, South Africa
Capacity
- Benin: Benin Telecom Reroutes Traffic Through Terrestrial Fibre Link To Nigeria Following SAT-3 Outage
- Burundi: SEACOM Plans To Extend Services To Burundi, Somalia and Southern Sudan
- Egypt: Egypt Increases International Bandwidth To 123 Gbps, December 2010
- Mauritius: Mauritius Telecom Increases International Bandwidth To 4.8 Gbps, December 2010
- Madagascar: Madagascar Doubles International Bandwidth To 1.07 Gbps, December 2010
- Morocco: Morocco's International Bandwidth Reaches 75 Gbps, December 2010
- Morocco: Maroc Telecom Expands Fibre Backbone To 24,400-Kms, Increases Int’l Bandwidth To 60 Gbps
- Mozambique: SEACOM Signs Backhaul Agreement Through Mozambique With TDM
- South Africa: SEACOM Invests US$15 Million In 100 Gbps Terrestrial Fibre Route From Mtunzini to Gauteng
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