* The strategic project aims to connect multiple African countries and link submarine cables to terrestrial networks — significantly enhancing digital connectivity across the continent
* It will contribute towards boosting economic growth and improving the quality of life for communities in the continent by providing affordable and reliable digital infrastructure
By Duncan Mlanjira
Airtel Africa, the leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services with a footprint across 14 African countries including Malawi, has selected Nokia to build a transformative, high-capacity terrestrial fiber network spanning East and Central Africa for its cutting-edge fiber service, Airtel Africa Telesonic.
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A statement from Cape Town, South Africa, indicates that the strategic project aims to connect multiple African countries and link submarine cables to terrestrial networks — “significantly enhancing digital connectivity across the continent”.
“It will contribute towards boosting economic growth and improving the quality of life for communities in the continent by providing affordable and reliable digital infrastructure,” says the statement.
The project, which was unveiled at the ongoing 28th edition of AfricaCom — the largest gathering of Africa-focused connectivity leaders in the world — is expected to connect the 2Africa subsea cable to Africa’s terrestrial networks, providing affordable and reliable connectivity.
“By leveraging Telesonic’s fiber assets and subsea cable systems, the initiative is expected to meet the growing demand for wholesale data in Africa, fostering economic growth and development.
“With Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) platform, this new technology will enable the network to support up to 38 Terabits per second (Tbps) to facilitate fast data transfer and is C+L Band Ready to enhance its capacity. It will play a critical role in high-speed connectivity and delivering cloud-based services.
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“Powered by Nokia’s high-speed coherent Photonic Service Engine (PSE) technology, the Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) network consisting of 139 nodes is deployed spanning multiple countries.
“In addition to building Africa’s digital infrastructure, this project underscores Telesonic’s commitment to empowering businesses, education, and healthcare in Africa.”
The statement quotes Airtel Africa’s Chief Technology Officer, Razvan Ungureanu, saying “deploying Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch platform is a pivotal upgrade to the network infrastructure across Africa”.
“This will enable us to provide greater capacity and high-speed connectivity to efficiently handle webscale traffic,” he said. “With Nokia’s Photonic Service Engine powering our DWDM network across multiple countries, we are setting the stage for transformative growth and new opportunities throughout the continent.”
Razvan Ungureanu
On his part, PD Sarma, Airtel Africa Telesonic’s Chief Executive Officer said: “Our collaboration with Nokia is a significant milestone in advancing Africa’s digital infrastructure.
“By leveraging Nokia’s cutting-edge fiber-optic solutions, we aim to meet the escalating demand for data across the continent. This network will drive economic growth, empower communities, and create new opportunities for businesses and individuals alike.”
Samer Lutfi, Nokia Middle East & Africa’s Head of Growth Group for Network Infrastructure said they are proud to partner with Airtel Africa Telesonic in this “ambitious project to enhance digital connectivity across Africa”.
“Our advanced DWDM technology, with its high capacity and reliability, is built to help enterprises succeed in their mission to spark digital transformation and economic growth in the region.
“This project is a reflection of our shared commitment to connecting communities and driving progress,” said Lutfi.
Samer Lutfi
On its part, Airtel Malawi Plc contends that the Airtel Africa-Nokia partnership’s high-capacity fiber network across East and Central Africa will greatly benefit Malawi by enhancing connectivity resilience.
With operations in 14 countries across sub-Saharan Africa the leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services provides national and international mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services to 161.1 million customers.
The company’s strategy is focused on delivering a great customer experience across the entire footprint and increasing digital and financial inclusion to transform lives across Africa, in line with its corporate purpose.
Nokia creates technology that helps the world act together and as a B2B technology innovation leader, Nokia pioneers networks that sense, think and act by leveraging its work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks.
“In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs,” says the global communication giant.
“With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today — and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.
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