Optical & Fixed Networks

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.

Vietnam is reportedly once again facing disruptions to internet connectivity speeds with four out of six international subsea cable connections now suffering from outages.

Underlining the strategic importance of international cable connections to the country, India is reportedly looking at ways to reduce delays in approvals for submarine cable repairs.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison’s digital infrastructure spinoff Infra Fiber Teknologi (IFT) launched a new project called RAIA Grid on Wednesday to build an AI-powered digital infrastructure platform across Indonesia.

Ciena announced on Thursday that Indonesia’s ION Network (a.k.a. Parsaoran Global Datatrans) is deploying its WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) on its new ION Cable System 1 (ICS1) that will connect Jakarta with Singapore.

Papua New Guinea’s state-owned telecoms network wholesaler PNG DataCo has reportedly signed a five-year deal with Digicel PNG to provide it with more bandwidth and stronger support for its network.

Gilat Perú has signed a US$14 million agreement with the Regional Government of Ayacucho for a fibre-optic broadband project in southern Ayacucho.

Google has announcing a major expansion of its global network infrastructure in the Americas with three new subsea cable systems: Alisios, Canoa and OlaLuz.

Singapore-based connectivity provider Lightstorm says it has secured approximately US$262million in debt financing for the development of the recently announced I-2SEA subsea cable project, which will link India with Malaysia and Singapore.

Three companies – UNIFI Communications, Syrian Telecom, and CYTA – have signed a construction and maintenance agreement for UGARIT 2 – a new subsea cable that, at the outset, will connect Syria to Lebanon and Cyprus.

Nigeria has moved its planned nationwide fibre infrastructure programme, Project BRIDGE, from the planning phase into execution following the incorporation of Bridge Open Access (Bridge OA), an independent company established to oversee delivery of the initiative.

Telkom Indonesia announced on Friday it has executed the second phase of the two-phase spinoff of its network infrastructure assets to operating subsidiary InfraNexia, with a total transaction value of IDR85.7 trillion (US$4.8 billion).

e& UAE announced on Wednesday it’s deploying a future-ready DWDM network using next-gen optical and software solutions from Ciena to prepare for growing traffic demand driven by hyperscale cloud and AI services.

A Japanese company has announced plans for a major investment in optical fibre and cable capacity that could benefit facilities in India and Brazil.

State-owned Cabos de Timor-Leste (CTL) has commercially launched the Timor-Leste South Submarine Cable System (TLSSC), which provides the country’s first international subsea connection.

Kazakhstan said on Friday that the first phase of the Trans-Caspian Submarine Cable System connecting Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is now being deployed, and is on track to be ready for service by the end of this year.

PLDT, Globe Telecom and Converge ICT Solutions have reportedly submitted a proposal to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to build a new US$500-million subsea fibre network to boost connectivity across the Philippines.

Liberty Networks announced on Friday it is teaming with state-owned Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela (CANTV) to launch a new subsea cable linking Venezuela to the island nation of Curaçao.

America Movil has agreed to acquire Peruvian fixed broadband provider Wow from Liberty Latin America and its partners, strengthening the operator's position in Peru's growing fibre broadband market.

Real-time communications technology, IP routing and optical networking specialist Ribbon Communications has announced a major deal with leading Indonesian provider of internet and network access services Jala Lintas Media (JLM).

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin and BW Digital announced on Monday that they have successfully landed the Nongsa Changi Cable (NCC) linking Singapore and Indonesia at Nongsa Digital Park (NDP).

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has invited telecoms players to submit draft proposals to build a new subsea cable connecting peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak under the Universal Service Provision (USP) framework.

Equatorial Guinea’s state-owned telecommunications operator Getesa has signed a collaboration agreement with Huawei to optimise the country’s national telecommunications network.

Underlining the continuing difficulties faced by telecoms companies in extending broadband rollout is news of complaints from a recent forum hosted by the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria in Lagos.

Latin American digital infrastructure provider Cirion Technologies confirmed that it has restored 62% of the services knocked out by the two recent earthquakes in Venezuela.