On 15 July 2021, a ceremony was held in Meyo Kye, Gabon to inaugurate the entry into service of the new cross-border fibre connection between Cameroon and Gabon. This follows the completion of a 22-km fibre link running between Kye-Ossi in Cameroon and Bitam in Gabon. In November 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Gabon and Cameroon relating to the interconnection of fibre optic networks between the two countries (see Gabon: Gabon And Cameroon Sign Cross Border Interconnection Agreement). In December 2017, the Ministère de l’Economie Numérique signed a contract with KT Corporation for the deployment of new fibre optic links in the north of Gabon (see Gabon: KT Corporation Wins Contract To Deploy Fibre Link With Cameroon And Equatorial Guinea). Forming part of the Central Africa Backbone (CAB 4) and Backbone National Gabonais (BNG) projects, this 528-km project comprises two fibre routes. The first 411-km route will link the city of Booué with neighbouring countries... Read More →
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DRC: Liquid Intelligent Technologies And Facebook Partner To Build 2,000-Km Fibre Route Across DRC To Rwanda
Filed under: Fibre Long Haul, Fibre Metro Tags: DRC, Rwanda
On 5 July 2021, Liquid Intelligent Technologies (LIT) announced a partnership with Facebook to build an extensive long haul and metro fibre network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is expected to improve internet access for more than 30 million people and help meet growing demand for regional connectivity across Central Africa. According to a company press release, Facebook will invest in the fibre build and support network planning. Liquid Technologies will own, build and operate the fibre network, and provide wholesale services to mobile network operators and internet service providers. The network will help create a digital corridor from the Atlantic Ocean through the Congo Rainforest, the second largest rainforest after the Amazon, to East Africa, and onto the Indian Ocean. The new build will stretch from Central DRC to the Eastern border with Rwanda and extend the reach of 2Africa, a major new submarine cable that will land along both the East and West African coasts... Read More →
Malawi: Second Phase Of National Optic Fibre Backbone Project Launched
On 25 June 2021, President Lazarus Chakwera officially announced the launch of the second phase of the National Optic Fibre Backbone Project. Comprising of 2,800-km, according to Xinhua, the second phase will be deployed by Huawei and will reach an additional 29 cities. The first phase of the National Optic Fibre Backbone Project was completed in January 2018, which spans 1,320-km and expanded the existing aerial fibre optic network already deployed on the transmission network of the ESCOM (Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi) (see Malawi: First Phase Of National Optic Fibre Backbone Project Completed). Source: Xinhua, The Nation Read More →
DRC: SCPT Signs Contract With Benya Capital To Start Deployment Of 16,000-Km National Fibre Optic Network
On 23 June 2021, the Société Congolaise des Postes et Télécommunications (SCPT) signed a contract with Benya Capital to start the deployment of a 16,000-km national fibre optic backbone across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Previously, Benya Holdings announced in September 2020 that it had signed an agreement with the DRC’s Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and New Information and Communication Technologies (PT-NTIC) to deploy the 16,000-km National Fibre Optic Network (NFON) (see DRC: PT-NTIC Signs Agreement With Benya To Construct 16,000-Km National Fibre Optic Network). According to a company press release, the engagement between both entities will be executed in two phases: the first being the implementation of the network, and the second being the operation of the network. To this effect, Benya also signed a shareholders agreement with SCPT in April 2021 to establish a new local telecommunications operator in DRC. SCPT currently operates a 3,600-km fibre optic backbone... Read More →
Uganda: Uganda Digital Acceleration Project - GovNet (UDAP - GovNet) Project To Extend National Fibre Backbone By 1,500-Km
On 2 June 2021, the World Bank announced that it has approved in total USD 200 million financing for the new Uganda Digital Acceleration Project - GovNet (UDAP - GovNet). This project includes a USD 49.6 million subcomponent which will support the extension of 1,000 km of the national backbone fibre infrastructure, an additional 500 km of fibre optic network links between towns, mobile broadband connections for 900 government administrative units and service centers in underserved areas, and 828 Wi-Fi hotspots in select locations to support access to online services among rural and peri-urban, underserved and unserved communities. The first phase of the National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure and e-Government Infrastructure (NBI/ EGI) project comprised 198-km of fibre network connecting Kampala (the capital), Mukono, Jinja, Bombo and Entebbe. The second phase comprised 1,400-km of fibre network connecting Busia, Tororo, Mbale, Malaba, Kumi, Soroti, Lira, Gulu, Elegu, Masindi,... Read More →
Cape Verde: Ellalink Submarine Cable Enters Service Running From Sines (Portugal) to Fortaleza (Brazil)
Filed under: Capacity, Submarine Cable Tags: Cape Verde, Mauritania, Morocco
On 1 June 2021, the Ellalink (European Link with Latin America) submarine cable was officially inaugurated. The 6,000 km cable has a design capacity of 100 Tbps, and runs from Sines (Portugal) to Fortaleza (Brazil) with landing points in Funchal (Madeira, Portugal) and Praia (Cape Verde). Future extensions are planned to build spurs to connect to French Guiana, Mauritania, the Canary Islands, and Morocco. Cabo Verde Telecom (CV Telecom) signed an agreement in December 2018 for an investment of US$ 25 million for the landing in Praia and an initial capacity of 200 Gbps (see Cape Verde: Cape Verde: Cabo Verde Telecom And EllaLink Sign Contract For Submarine Cable Connecting Brazil, Cape Verde And Portugal). The new direct cable route reduces latency between Brazil and Portugal by up to half compared to other trans-Atlantic cable routes, according to a company press release. Cape Verde was previously served by two international submarine cables: the Atlantis II cable which entered service... Read More →
South Africa: ACE Submarine Cable Extension Enters Service In South Africa, Upgrades Capacity To 20 Tbps
The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable consortium announced that the 4,000-km segment connecting Sao Tomé & Principe to South Africa was put into operation as of 1 June 2021, according to a company press release. In South Africa, the cable landing station is located in Duynefontein, close to Cape Town, and is connected by terrestrial fibre to the Terraco CT1 data centre. The ACE consortium, Orange and Alcatel Lucent officially announced the start of the Phase II extension of the ACE submarine cable system in November 2015 (see Africa: ACE Consortium Announces Launch Of Phase II, From Sao Tomé & Principe To South Africa). The ACE cable first entered service in December 2012 (see Africa: France Telecom Orange Announces Launch of ACE Submarine Cable), connecting 13 countries from France to Sao Tomé & Principe: France, Portugal, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tomé & Principe.... Read More →
Africa: Liquid Intelligent Technologies Reaches 100,000 km Fibre Network Milestone
On 2 June 2021, Liquid Intelligent Technologies (LIT) announced that it’s fibre optic network stretching across 14 countries in Africa has achieved the milestone of reaching 100,000-km. The operator’s network has increased from 89,989-km at the beginning of 2021, according to a company press release, and now reaches more than 100 million people in 643 towns and cities on the continent. So far during 2021, Liquid has previously announced that it had completed two terrestrial fibre optic routes in South Africa totalling 1,767-km (see South Africa: Liquid South Africa Announces Completion of Durban – East London – Cape Town Fibre Optic Route), completed a fibre route in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from Muanda to Matadi and Kinshasa (see DRC: Liquid Announces Completion of Fibre Route From Muanda To Kinshasa And Its Regional Fibre Optic Network), and also announced yesterday that it has completed a new fibre link in DRC to Mbuji-Mayi. Source: Liquid Intelligent Technologies Read More →
Angola: Angola Telecom Inaugurates 800-Km Terrestrial Fibre Link From Luanda To Cabinda
On 8 May 2021, Angola Telecom announced the inauguration of a new 800-km terrestrial cross-border fibre optic link running from the capital city Luanda to the exclave of Cabinda province. Until now, Cabinda province has been connected to the rest of Angola by the ADONES submarine cable, and microwave links running from Soyo. According to a company press release, the new terrestrial fibre optic route runs from Luanda to Noqui on the border with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), passes through the DRC on Liquid Intelligent Technologies’ recently completed fibre network running from Matadi - Boma - Muanda – Yema, and finally from Yema to the town of Cabinda on Angola Telecom’s fibre network. This follows shortly after Liquid Intelligent Technologies announced in March 2021 that it had completed the deployment of a new fibre optic network in DRC running from the coastal town of Muanda to the capital city of Kinshasa, with onward connectivity into its regional network of over 73,000-km... Read More →
Eswatini: EPTC’s International Bandwidth Increases By 51% During 2020
The international bandwidth of the fixed line incumbent operator Eswatini Post and Telecommunication Corporation (EPTC) reached 9.600 Gbps in March 2020, according to the Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM). This was an increase of 51% compared to 6.340 Gbps in March 2019 (see Eswatini: EPTC’s International Bandwidth Increases By 19% During 2019). Formerly known as Swazi Telecom (SPTC), the operator previously reported an international bandwidth of 5.340 Gbps in March 2018, 512 Mbps by 31 March 2012 (see Swaziland: SPTC Increases International Bandwidth To 512 Mbps, 31 March 2012) and 85 Mbps ten years ago in 2009 (see Swaziland: SPTC Increases International Fibre Capacity To 85 Mbps). “This increase in international internet bandwidth capacity is a reflection of higher demand and usage of broadband services,” said ESCOMM in its 2020 annual report, adding that “Eswatini.net and Eswatini Mobile accounted for the largest increase in average used international internet bandwidth... Read More →