Optical & Fixed Networks

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.

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.