Liquid Telecom announced on Wednesday the launch of the fastest direct land-based fibre link connecting East to West Africa. This breakthrough coast-to-coast digital corridor follows the completion of Liquid Telecom’s new high-capacity fibre link running 2,600-kilometre (km) across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Liquid Telecom continues expanding its pan-African terrestrial fibre network rapidly.

In a parntership with Ciena, Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier newly launched Encrypted Lambda service. The Encrypted Lambda service encrypts data on hardware located at the client’s site and protects it over Layer 1, the physical layer, while it is transmitted. This sets it apart from conventional solutions by allowing for larger data volumes with higher performance, lower costs and faster speeds. 

Digital Realty and Interxion announced on Tuesday they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their businesses to create a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions.  Under the terms of the agreement, Interxion shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.7067 Digital Realty shares per Interxion share.  The transaction values Interxion at approximately $93.48 per ordinary share or approximately $8.4 billion of total enterprise value, including assumed net debt.

At the Submarine Networks World 2019 event, there was a new brand from Africa: Botswana Fiber Networks (BoFiNet). Never aware of BoFiNet’s involvement in any submarine cable project, I was quite curiously and had an interview with Mr. Keabetswe Segole, Commercial Executive at BoFiNet. Then I got to understand BoFiNet has invested in WACS and EASSY subsea cables and is the operator which connects Botswana to global submarine networks. BoFiNet has co-built with Paratus the fiber network from WACS cable landing station in Swakopmund, Namibia to Botswana. And BoFiNet is co-building with Broadband Infraco the terrestrial fiber cable connecting Botswana and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Zayo Group announced on Wednesday that it has signed a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Digital Colony Partners (“Digital Colony”) and the EQT Infrastructure IV fund (“EQT” or “EQT Infrastructure”). The transaction would result in Zayo transitioning from a public company to a private company. Under the new ownership, the Zayo team would continue to execute the Company’s strategy and remain headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The transaction valued at $14.3 billion, including the assumption of $5.9 billion of Zayo’s net debt obligations.

IX Reach announced recently its partnership with Djibouti Data Center for its networkexpansion into East Africa. IX Reach is the leading provider of SDN cloud connectivity, remote peering and Ethernet services to more than 170 global locations. Djibouti Data Center is the first and only Tier 3 carrier neutral data center in east Africa with direct access to all major international and regional cable systems connecting Africa to Europe, Middle Eastern, and Asian markets.

Colt Technology Services announced on Thursday the expansion of its portfolio in Asia, with the launch of Colt Private Wave in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Colt Private Wave is explicitly designed for businesses that require private optical solutions to ensure high security, high performance and resilient connectivity. It is designed to meet the most demanding customer needs, supporting multiple optical services or service types up to 100Gbps.

Teraco Data Environments announced on Thursday that Berkshire Partners LLC has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in the company. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and the customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019. The Permira funds, an existing shareholder, will remain a significant investor. According to Bloomsberg, Berkshire Partners becomes the biggest shareholder in Teraco Data Environments. Teraco is the leading provider of carrier neutral colocation datacentres in Africa, hosting NAPAfrica and connecting with various subsea cables.

According to Bloomberg news, BT has botained two nationalwide domestic telecom licenses in China and become the first non-Chinese telecom company to receive nationwide licenses in China. The news has been confirmed by BT, Chinese media and government authorities.

China Telecom (Africa and Middle East) Limited (CTMEA), the Middle East and Africa subsidiaryof China Telecom Global (CTG), one of the world’s largest providers of integrated telecommunication services, has recently announced that it is establishing an inter-connection network and telecommunications hub to support growing traffic demands at Teraco data center in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Teraco is Africa’s first vendor neutral data centre.

According to Developing Telecom news, the Mislatel consortium, which is made up of China Telecom, Chelsea Holdings and Udenna Corporation, has been chosen to found the Philippines’ third mobile operator.

Chayora, a Hong Kong-based data centre infrastructure company, announces today that its Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Jones, will be presenting a case study on the approach to complex infrastructure design being taken at Chayora’s first hyperscale DC campus in Tianjin at the Huawei 4^th Annual Data Centre Facility Technology Summit in Xi’an on 15 November 2018.

Vietnam’s CMC Telecom desires to take its brand to the world, leveraging the numerous global industry recognitions and certifications it has scored and its determination to deliv er world-class products and services.

Starting two years ago, following the strategic investment from Malaysia-backed TIME dotCom Berhad (TIME) in 2015, CMC Telecom, one of the four leading telecommunications service providers in Vietnam, has begun its quest to overhaul its brand identity and set the new mission to showcase its brand to the world. The company does so with confidence after achieving international and regional recognitions and awards.

OTEGLOBE won for the second time the Best Eastern European/CIS Wholesale Carrier award at the Global Carrier Awards 2018 that took place in London on Wednesday, 24 October. This award is an acknowledgement of OTEGLOBE’s thoroughly planned and executed strategy, which lead to the company’s continuous growth over the past 12 years.

Global Carrier Awards event is wholesale telecom's' largest global industry celebration. Taking place as part of Capacity Europe 2018, The Global Carrier Awards 2018 will unite 400+ industry leaders from across the international carrier community for an evening packed with fine wining and dining, fantastic live entertainment and plenty of big winners to toast and applaud! Capacity Media announced the shortlisted candidates for the Global Carrier Awards 2018 on September 24^th, 2018.

BBIX Inc. (“BBIX”), the Internet exchange (IX) business arm of the SoftBank Group, today announced the launch of a new IX point “BBIX Tokyo 6” that will start operations in April 2017. BBIX Tokyo 6 locates at Maruyama Cable Landing Station.