Optical & Fixed Networks

Nokia announced on Wednesday that it has been selected by Thai telecoms and digital infrastructure provider Symphony Communication to upgrade the optical equipment of the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) subsea cable system.

Telecom Namibia has signed its second open-access fibre deal in the past week – this one with fibre infrastructure provider Lightstruck – as part of its ongoing plan to accelerate its fibre broadband business and replace its fixed copper network.

Telecom Namibia says it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with local open-access fibre network provider Demshi Investment Holdings to accelerate its fibre service rollout and replace its copper network with fibre in areas prone to cable theft and vandalism.

Orange announced on Wednesday that the France-to-Tunisia route of the Medusa Submarine Cable System – dubbed “ViaTunisia” – is now operational, establishing a new digital link between Europe and North Africa.

Chinese subsea cable firm HMN Tech has announced that the South East Asia Hainan–Hong Kong Express Cable System (SEA-H2X) connecting China to Southeast Asia is now ready for service.

FLAG has launched a new subsea route between Chennai and Singapore, adding capacity and route diversity along one of Asia’s busiest connectivity corridors.

Global operator Sparkle announced on Thursday it has signed three new capacity agreements to expand the reach of European research and education network operator GÉANT across Europe, Africa and MENA.

Bahrain-headquartered global technology group Beyon has announced the signing of a public private partnership (PPP) commitment agreement with the Ministry of Communications in Kuwait and the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP).

Global operator Sparkle and Bolivian state-owned telco Entel announced on Tuesday they have signed an MoU to create a new coast-to-coast terrestrial fibre route across Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.

Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme solution, powered by WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optical technology, has been successful activated across the Batam–Jakarta segment of the Matrix Cable System (MCS), a submarine telecommunications cable linking Indonesia and Singapore.

Philippine telco PLDT announced on Tuesday that three indigenous cultural communities (ICC) representing the Tagbanua in Palawan province have given the green light to a subsea cable project designed to boost the telco's network resiliency for the island.

NEC announced on Friday it has completed construction of the East Micronesia Cable System (EMCS) that will bring extra international capacity to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati and Nauru.

Mexican carrier C3ntro Telecom and Ecuadorian telco Telconet announced on Thursday they are partnering to build a subsea and terrestrial fibre network called CSN-2 to connect data centre hubs in Mexico and Florida.

Global operator Sparkle say it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NaiTel, the telecom arm of the digital ecosystem known as Aqaba Digital Hub, and international consultancy and advisory firm iLevant, to extend the GreenMed submarine cable system through Jordan.

Venezuela’s largest private ISP Inter Venezuela is using Harmonic’s virtualised core and fibre solutions to power its nationwide XGS-PON-based mobile backhaul service.

Orange Group announced on Tuesday that it is part of a consortium of telcos and carriers that have signed an MoU to build a new subsea cable linking the UK and Europe to South Africa.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin announced on Friday it has officially launched the Pukpuk Submarine Cable System (Puk-Puk 1) that provides a direct subsea link between Indonesia’s Papua province and Papua New Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea has officially signed a construction and maintenance agreement (C&MA) to join AFR-IX Telecom’s Medusa Africa cable project, which would give the country its second international subsea link.

International network services provider RETN announced on Thursday it has launched a new end-to-end backbone route through Romania that links the Balkans to Moldova and Ukraine.

Qatar’s Ooredoo Group announced on Thursday it has signed a partnership deal with du to land Ooredoo’s planned Fibre in the Gulf (FIG) subsea cable system in the UAE.

Kenyan telco Safaricom says it has launched what it claims is Kenya’s first fibre to the room (FTTR) solution for home broadband networks in partnership with Huawei.

The EllaLink submarine cable system and Mauritania have announced the successful landing of a new subsea cable in Nouadhibou, giving the country a second direct, diverse and secure connection to European and international digital hubs.

ZTE announced on Wednesday that Dominican Republic fixed-line telco Wind Telecom has commercially deployed its Smart Cloud Platform (SCP) and intelligent home solutions that it says will deliver a better smart-home experience for residential users.

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has approved a request to install a subsea cable landing for the TalayLink project, a regional digital infrastructure initiative backed by Google Cloud.

Telecom Namibia and Angola Telecom announced on Thursday they have signed an MoU and commercial terms agreement (CTA) to boost regional and international subsea cable connectivity along Southern Africa’s west coast.

Ooredoo and DE-CIX have connected Doha IX - Qatar’s first commercial Internet Exchange (IX) – to DE-CIX Marseille.

Millicom International Cellular, a leading telecommunications company in Latin America, has announced a long-term commercial agreement with digital infrastructure provider Trans Americas Fibre System (TAFS).

State-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cables (BSCPLC) has warned that internet services will experience slowdowns or disruptions from now until Monday due to repairs being carried out on the SEA-ME-WE-5 subsea cable.

Philippines operator Globe Telecom has joined the Candle Cable System consortium, an approximately 8,000 kilometre submarine cable system connecting Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2028.

According to a number of recent news reports, the government of Equatorial Guinea is considering joining the Medusa subsea cable to improve network stability.

ZTE revealed on Friday that Peruvian ISP MiFibra has commercially deployed its XGS-PON technology to boost its fibre home broadband access speeds and expand its market reach.

Ciena and Indian telco Vodafone Idea announced on Tuesday that Vi is modernizing its optical transport network using Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optical technology running on the 6500 platform.

America Movil’s unit Claro is acquiring a 73% stake in Brazil-based broadband provider Desktop, marking a major move to strengthen its fixed-line presence in the country.