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.

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. 

In a blog post by Google Global Networking experts Valey Kamalov and Mattia Cantono on Friday,  Google unveiled a recent experiment using its subsea cables to detect earthquakes and tsunamis. Google has developed a technique which is capable of dectecting earthquakes and tsunamis over tens of thousands of kilometers away, using current in-service subsea cables and equipment that is present on the vast majority of the world’s existing subsea cable systems.

According to press release from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of Egypt, the Minister Amr Talaat has issued a decree appointing Mohamed Nasr Eldin Mohamed Ali the Assistant ICT Minister for Global Information Infrastructure (GII) for one year. Nasr Eldin is a respectful verteran in developing and running submarine cable systems, global telecommunication networks and the Internet. He was the Head of Subsea Cable Infrastructure at PCCW Global prior to this appiontment, and headed International Business Unit at Telecom Egypt for years prior to his roles at PCCW Global. He contributed a lot and work extensively for the PEACE cable, the AAE-1 cable and other subsea cables.

The Commercial Division of the High Court of England and Wales in London on Friday (May 22) ordered Anil Ambani, the former chairman of the bankrupted Reliance Communications, to pay approximately US$717 million to three Chinese banks within 21 days, pursuant to a Facility Agreement and a binding personal guarantee. The court also ruled the court costs of 750,000 pounds in favor of the claimant (Chinese banks), owed by the defendant.

SUNeVision Holdings Ltd. (“SUNeVision”), the owner of MEGA Campus and one of the largest data centre providers in Hong Kong, announced a new Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute site on MEGA Campus in Hong Kong. According to Microsoft, the new Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute site is located at Mega-iAdvantage, the #1 Data Centre in Hong Kong, as Misrosoft Azure ExpressRoute location Hong Kong2. Microsoft established its first Azure ExpressRoute location Hong Kong at Equinix HK1.

March 09, 2020 Eastern Daylight Time-Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. (“Zayo”) (NYSE: ZAYO), which provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world’s most impactful companies, today announced the completion of its acquisition by affiliates of Digital Colony Partners (“Digital Colony”) and the EQT Infrastructure IV fund (“EQT” or “EQT Infrastructure”). The close marks the consummation of the $14.3 billion transaction, which represents the largest syndicated private equity investment, the fifth largest Media & Communications LBO and the second largest LBO overall since 2008.

According to telecompaper news, Telefonica is planning to split its submarine cables business from the rest of its infrastructure subsidiary Telxius, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg and subsequently reported by El Economista. Telxius operates an 87,000 km international network of high capacity fiber optic subsea cables, including the latest MAREA and BRUSA cables.

HC2 Holdings, Inc. (HC2) announced on Thursday to sell 100% of its subsidiary Global Marine Group (GMG) to an investment affiliate of J.F. Lehman & Company, LLC (JFLCO). The sale includes GMG’s operating subsidiary Global Marine Systems Limited (GMSL), along with several joint ventures, and excludes the previously sale of GMG’s 49% joint venture Huawei Marine Networks Co., Limited (HMN). The total base consideration for 100% of GMG (excluding HMN) is approximately $250 million, and the total enterprise value of GMG is approximately $390 million.

According to the French National Research Institue (IRD), scientists have for the first time shown that it is possible to detect the propagation of seismic waves on the seafloor using submarine telecommunications optical fiber cables. According to their research, this existing infrastructure could be used to detect earthquakes, as well as swell and underwater noise. The existing submarine cables will offer potential as billions of seismic sensors.

Ciena, Internet2, and Juniper Networks confirmed last successfully passing live traffic over a 1,367-mile (2200km) circuit using a single 400 gigabit Ethernet link between Chicago and Denver, the first such occurrence for an advanced research and education (R&E) network. The live traffic ran cleanly during a trial between StarLight in Chicago and SCinet at the SC Conference in Denver this week on the 400 gigabit Ethernet link connecting two Juniper PTX 10003 core routers. 

AT&T announced last week the activation the first 400G optical connection between Dallas and Atlanta. This 400G  optical connection is not a trial, it is carrying live internet traffic across AT&T's network for their customers. AT&T believes the 400G optical connection is a first in the industry, which offers a significant upgrade to their production network, built on flexible, low-cost white box hardware. The 400G Dallas/Atlanta facility was deployed on an SDN-enabled Ultra Long Haul (ULH) system from Ciena, with 400G pluggable transceivers from InnoLight and white box was supplied by UfiSpace.

Orange announced at AfricaCom the construction of a new international backbone network in West Africa. This infrastructure will be built around a terrestrial fibre optic network coupled with submarine cables and will benefit from centralized supervision. This multi-regional West African network will connect to the rest of the world through various submarine cables and will link up all the main capital cities in the region: Dakar, Bamako, Abidjan, Accra, Lagos…