Optical & Fixed Networks

Paratus Tanzania revealed on Monday that it has established a new point of presence (PoP) at Wingu Data Centre in Dar es Salaam that connects the telco to Paratus Group’s continental network in East Africa.

The Trans-Caspian Submarine Cable System linking Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan was officially launched on Thursday, linking the respective telecoms infrastructures of AzerTelecom and Kazakhtelecom with 400 Tbps of capacity.

State-owned national telecommunications and internet service provider Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) and the state electricity utility Socadel have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore infrastructure sharing in Cameroon.

A plan by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to build a new subsea cable connecting peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak is reportedly moving forward, with construction scheduled to begin early next next year.

India-based Henox IT and Data Centers has revealed plans to build a subsea cable system that will create a series of new, carrier-neutral landing hubs along India’s coastline.

Colt Technology Services announced on Monday it is investing to expand its global network across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe to support the next generation of AI-driven growth.

Mali’s La Société Malienne de Transmission et de Diffusion (SMTD-SA) and Sénégal Numérique (SENUM-SA) have reportedly commissioned a new fibre optic link that directly connects their respective country’s national fibre networks.

Ooredoo Group’s international connectivity arm OFN said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement with Iraqi fibre infrastructure provider iQ Networks to create a terrestrial corridor across Iraq linking OFN’s Fibre In Gulf (FIG) subsea cable to Turkey and Europe.

Niger is opening a new route through Algeria. It’s an additional path to international internet infrastructure, and part of a wider backbone connecting Niger, which is landlocked, to several neighbouring countries.

Five Caribbean islands – Saint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Martin, Saint Barths and Saint Kitts – are now connected through the AMS-IX Eastern Caribbean Internet Exchange (IX), marking what is described as a major milestone in strengthening the region’s digital infrastructure.

The Medusa Submarine Cable System will extend its reach to Jordan via an agreement with NaiTel, the telecom arm of Jordanian carrier-neutral data centre Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH), to integrate its Coral Bridge cable with Medusa.

EllaLink, the operator of the first high-capacity fibre optic submarine cable directly connecting Latin America to Europe, has announced the official launch of the EllaLink Caribbean Gateway (ECG) initiative.

Private subsea cable operator FLAG announced on Tuesday it has invested in the MIST and I-2SEA cable systems to add more routing options in and out of Mumbai.

Angola Cables is upgrading capacity across its MONET and South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) submarine networks with technology from Ciena, including support for 800Gbps services on the route linking the US, Brazil and Angola.

Cape Verde service provider Cabo Verde Telecom (CVTelecom) and internet exchange (IX) operator DE-CIX have signed a letter of intent to explore the establishment of a new South Atlantic interconnection corridor linking Lisbon, Portugal, with São Paulo, Brazil.

Australian submarine cable development firm Subco announced plans on Tuesday to build three new subsea cables by 2029 to support demand for AI data centres in Asia-Pacific, one of which will bring more international bandwidth to Indonesia.

The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system consortium has selected high-speed connectivity specialist Ciena to upgrade one of the key routes in the system that links Western Europe, West Africa and South Africa.

Indonesian service provider XLSmart has announced that it has begun construction work on the 8,000-kilometre Candle Cable System, a subsea cable linking Southeast Asia and Japan.

EllaLink, which describes itself as the first high-capacity fibre-optic submarine cable directly connecting Latin America to Europe, has announced that two branching units have been successfully laid.

Airtel Africa is winding up its Kenyan wholesale fibre and internet subsidiary after two years of operation, following losses and an inability to establish a viable commercial business.

Nokia announced Tuesday it’s collaborating with global connectivity provider Telxius to deploy 800G coherent pluggable optics across its terrestrial transport networks in Latin America, Europe and the US.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is funding a feasibility study for a new submarine cable system linking Thailand with the US via up to five other Southeast Asian countries.

Ethio Telecom revealed on Thursday it has held a stakeholders' workshop with Djibouti Telecom and Sudatel Group to push their planned Horizon Cross-Border Terrestrial Fiber Initiative into the pre-commercialisation phase.

Thailand-based holding company Gulf Development and Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate Singtel Group have announced a strategic partnership to develop new submarine cable connectivity between Thailand and Singapore.

The LuLu Coastal Cable System the Kenyan coast’s first fully protected coastal cable system, has been announced at this week’s ITW Africa digital infrastructure and connectivity event, held in Nairobi.

Telkom Indonesia’s wholesale fibre spinoff InfraNexia revealed on Monday it has expanded its collaboration with telco XLSmart, who will use the company’s fibre network to boost connectivity in several of Indonesia's strategic corridors.

Malaysian telco Maxis revealed on Thursday that its business arm has deployed Nokia's optical transport technology to enhance its nationwide and cross-border network infrastructure to meet surging demand for AI and enterprise connectivity.

Telecom Egypt signed an agreement on Thursday with Greece-based Power Sub Link (PSL) to construct a mult-petabit subsea cable that will extend the reach of its Red2Med cable system up the Gulf of Aqaba coast from Sharm El Sheikh to Taba.

Telkom Indonesia’s wholesale fibre spinoff InfraNexia revealed on Wednesday it is collaborating with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison’s ICT arm Lintasarta to boost DWDM services on routes connecting the Sumatra region with Batam.

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has signed a strategic five-year agreement with the country’s Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT), a telecom research and development centre, to establish a state-of-the-art end-to-end optical network test bed.

Malaysian telco Maxis announced that it has officially been appointed by Melaka ICT Holdings (MICTH) as its strategic infrastructure partner to accelerate deployment of fibre backhaul to telecom towers in the state of Melaka.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin signed a trio of agreements last week to expand its international connectivity business, along with a fourth agreement to adopt TM Forum’s Open APIs and open digital architecture model.