New Delhi, India and Tokyo, Japan – December 18, 2020 –NEC Corporation India (NEC India) today announced the successful completion of the flagship optical submarine cable system connecting Chennai, India and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&N Islands) for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a Government of India Enterprise. NEC Corporation (NEC, TSE: 6701), the parent company of NEC India, manufactured the optical submarine cable and provided technical assistance during the turnkey implementation.

Aqua Comms DAC (“Aqua Comms”) announced on December 1 the successful launch of AEC-2 (America Europe Connect-2) trans-Atlantic subsea cable system. The AEC-2 cable system perfectly complements Aqua Comms’s existing AEC-1 (America Europe Connect-1) cable which went Ready for Service in 2016.

PEACE announced that the first cable loading for Mediterranean Segment ( PEACE Med) has been successfully achieved. The freighter Sophia is going to Brest, France in the morning of November 21.

According to Ciena and Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP,  Hawaki Cable is deploying Ciena’s WaveLogic™ 5 Extreme technology delivering a critical network upgrade to support customers facing surging demand for more capacity and speed due to COVID-19. Hawaiki Cable will be the first cable in the Trans-Pacific region to achieve 500Gbps wavelengths, deploying over 9,000 kilometers between Sydney and Hawaii.

Cyta announced that it has secured the relevant operating licence from the Ministry of Transport, Communications & Works, and is proceeding swiftly with the construction of the ARSINOE subsea cable system, connecting Cyprus with France and Egypt. SubmarineNetworks.com has confirmed that Cyta is constructing the ARSINOE cable system with part of fiber pairs on the PEACE cale system.

According to United News of India (UNI), the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), BSNL and Andaman and Nicobar Administration signed a crucial tripartite agreement for Operation and Maintenance of Chennai- Andaman & Nicobar Islands Submarine Cable (CANI-SMC) Project on November 13, 2020.

According to Ciena, NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) will deploy a single-wave 800G line speed solution for Data Center Interconnect (DCI). Deployed with Ciena’s industry-leading WaveLogic 5 Extreme optical platform, NTT Com’s upgraded network can support capacity up to 33.6Tbps per fiber pair between data centers in metro area.

Orange announced the commissioning and commercial launch of Djoliba, the first pan-African backbone network, covering 8 countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. This Djoliba network infrastructure is based on a terrestrial fibre optic network, coupled with undersea cables, offering secure connectivity abroad from West Africa. This investment aims to support the digital ecosystem and meets the growing needs for connectivity in the region.

Vodafone NZ, Spark and Telstra announced additional network resilience with a new access point for the Tasman Global Access (TGA) cable network in Hamiltion, New Zealand. 

02 November 2020: Telecom Egypt and St Helena Government (SHG) have signed an agreement to connect the Island to Telecom Egypt’s subsea system over the Equiano submarine cable system.

Telecom Egypt will be the first to provide St Helena with a fibre optic connection to the rest of the world, which is a crucial step towards the Island’s economic growth. The cable, along with the associated high-speed internet, is planned to be delivered to the Island by early 2022. 

GTT Communications, Inc. (GTT) has announced that the company has signed a definitive purchase agreement to sell its infrastructure division to I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment firm, for $2.15 billion. The infrastructure division consists of GTT’s business and activities of providing Pan-European, North American, sub-sea and trans-Atlantic fiber network and data center infrastructure services to customers. 

Seaborn Networks (Seaborn) has launched new submarine network services on Seaborn’s AMX-1 submarine network segment connecting the U.S. and Brazil. Seaborn owns a half fiber pair on AMX-1 between Rio de Janeiro and Jacksonville, Florida. Seaborn deployed on its AMX-1 cable system with Infinera’s XT Series submarine network platforms, featuring Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE) technology.

Liberty Latin America has confirmed that the company has entered into a consent judgment with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the previously announced acquisition of AT&T’s wireless and wireline operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The DoJ required Liberty Latin America Ltd. (Liberty), its subsidiary, Liberty Communications of Puerto Rico LLC (LCPR), and AT&T Inc. (AT&T) to divest certain fiber-based telecommunications assets and customer accounts in Puerto Rico. The DoJ also approved WorldNet Telecommunications, Inc. (WorldNet) as the acquirer. 

Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cables operators in the region, announces that it is building Egypt's largest international data center facility. Expected to be commissioned in early 2021 with access to all the global submarine cable systems that land in Egypt, the new data center is going to be the first in the country with the Uptime Institute's certifications in the Design, Constructed Facility, and Operational Sustainability categories.

Telia Company announced on Tuesday to sell its global operation Telia Carrier to Polhem Infra, an infrastructure investor owned by Swedish pension funds, for 9.45 billion Swedish kronor (€900 million), on a cash and debt free basis, at an EV/EBITDA ratio of 18.9. Telia Company has reached an agreement with Polhem Infra. At the same time, Telia Company enters a long-term strategic partnership with Telia Carrier, securing continuous world-leading network solutions to Telia’s customers. 

Cinia Ltd, as the leading party of the Cinia Alliance, in collaboration with MegaFon, are executing the development phase for the Arctic submarine cable project. The objective of the international project is to build the first trans-Arctic submarine telecom cable between Europe and Asia.