Optical & Fixed Networks

Padtec, a Brazilian multinational specialising in high-capacity connections, and Peruvian telecommunications company Satelital have announced a partnership to meet the growing demand for submarine networks in Latin America.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has partnered with Medi Telecom, part of the Orange Group, in Morocco.

Constl, which delivers digital telecom infrastructure solutions within the B2B sector, says it is deploying networking systems, services and software company Ciena’s optical technology to offer high-speed metro area network (MAN) and national long distance (NLD) connectivity services across its pan-India network.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin announced on Friday it has signed a MoU with Singtel to develop a new subsea cable system connecting Singapore and Indonesia to support the booming data centre market in both countries.

Nokia announced on Tuesday that it has teamed with Global Fiber Peru to help complete deployment of a new subaquatic fibre network to bring multi-gigabit broadband access to 400 communities in the Amazon rainforest.

Google has announced Umoja, which it says is the first-ever fibre optic route to directly connect Africa with Australia. Anchored in Kenya, the Umoja cable route will pass through Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, including the Google Cloud region, before crossing the Indian Ocean to Australia.

Azerbaijan’s state-owned operator Baktelecom is deploying Nokia’s XGS-PON solution to help bring new gigabit services to residential and business customers across the country.

Co-hosted by the Fiber Network Council APAC (FNCA) and Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (YOFC), China FIBERTalk 2024 was held in China’s Optics Valley on May 17th.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) announced on Tuesday that it has awarded a feasibility study grant to Bangladesh telecoms company CdNet Communications to explore construction of a new subsea cable to improve internet connectivity across the country.

Global cable provider Nexans says it has started production of TAM-1, a new fibre optic submarine cable network owned by Trans Americas Fibre System.

The government of Nigeria has revealed ambitious plans to launch a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the delivery of an additional 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable to complement existing infrastructure and increase connectivity across Nigeria.

BW Digital, a subsidiary of BW Group, a global energy and maritime group, and PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), a provider of premium international carrier services, have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the joint development and construction of the Hawaiki Nui 1 submarine cable system.

Operator Ooredoo Oman part of the multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Qatar, has signed an agreement for the landing of the 2Africa cable system in Muscat and Salalah.

UAE telecommunications company du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has announced a strategic partnership with STL, a leading optical and digital solutions company, for advanced optical fibre cables.

Internet services across East Africa were reportedly disrupted on Sunday due to yet more subsea cable faults, this time on the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and the Seacom cable.

Australian prefabricated modular data centre specialist company DXN announced that it has signed contracts worth a total of A$5.7 million (US$3.8 million) to build four cable landing stations for the East Micronesia Cable System (EMCS).

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) has reportedly launched a plan to tidy up the infamous urban tangle of telecoms cables hanging all over Bangkok.

Nepal suffered an internet outage lasting five hours on Thursday after Indian telco Bharti Airtel reportedly cut off upstream links into the country because Nepal’s private ISPs are behind on their payments.

Industry organisations Fibre Connect Council MENA (FCC MENA) and the FTTH Council Europe have inked what is described as a significant agreement aimed at fostering collaboration and synergy between the two organisations.

Telecom Fiji said on Wednesday it has officially commenced Phase 2 of its Fibre Optics Northern Project to expand its underground fibre optic cables between Seaqaqa and Savusavu on the northern island of Vanua Levu.

Global connectivity provider Telxius says it is opening its latest submarine cable route with the extension of SAm-1 between Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

Internet and banking services were reportedly disrupted in Mauritius on Friday due to a technical glitch with the South Africa Far East (SAFE) submarine cable, although connectivity was restored late the same day.

Bangladesh’s internet slowdown due to a break in the SEA-ME-WE-5 subsea cable may reportedly continue to the end of May due to red tape and haggling over the cost of lighting up more bandwidth on the country’s only alternate subsea route.

The Philippine government launched the first phase of its National Fibre Backbone (NFB) project on Friday, which it says will boost the country’s economy as well as its digital ambitions.

Internet services in Bangladesh have been partially disrupted since early Saturday morning after the SEA-ME-WE 5 submarine cable was damaged, knocking out two-thirds of the country’s international subsea capacity.

Ciena announced on Tuesday that Indonesian internet services and integrated network access provider PT Parsaoran Global Datatrans (a.k.a. HSPnet) launched high-capacity services of up to 6 Tbps on two fibre cable systems using Ciena gear earlier this year.

The benefits that broadband delivers are proven and measurable in terms of economics, and few would dispute that fibre is the optimal broadband technology in situations where it is feasible to deploy.

Paratus Group announced on Monday that it has launched what it claims is the fastest fibre express route from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Europe after completing a terrestrial fibre link linking Johannesburg to Google’s Equiano subsea cable.

Viettel Business Solutions, a subsidiary of Viettel Group, announced on Friday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singtel to collaborate on deploying the first subsea cable directly connecting Vietnam and Singapore.

This week saw a potentially highly significant signing ceremony take place when representatives of Iraq’s Informatics and Telecommunications Public Company (ITPC) and the Kuwaiti service provider Zajil Telecom signed a strategic collaboration agreement to create a communications route from the Gulf to Europe.

Executives at Philippine broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions have reportedly said that two major international subsea cable networks it’s participating in are behind schedule and may not be completed until next year.