Optical networking vendor Ciena says that HGC Global Communications is deploying its connectivity solutions to support the telco’s recently announced data centre interconnect (DCI) service in the Philippines.

According to a release issued  by Ciena on Monday, Ciena’s local partner CommVerge Solutions will deploy the vendor’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform – powered by WaveLogic Ai coherent optical technology – to give its network more flexibility, improved scalability, and adaptability.

CommVerge will also deploy Ciena’s 3928 routing and switching platform to improve efficiency of operations and service consistency across applications. HGC will use Ciena’s Navigator Network Control Suite, which supports rapid planning, provisioning, turning-up, and troubleshooting of services. It also uses analytics and intelligent network control to optimize network performance.

HGC said the Ciena equipment will enhance its edge capabilities the Philippines and improve connectivity into and out of the country.

Last month, HGC launched DCI clusters in key data hubs across Asia, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong to offer an extensive DCI infrastructure connecting major data centres across Southeast Asia.

That launch came just after HGC beefed up its data centre PoP in the Philippines by joining PLDT Enterprise’s Vitro Partner Network (VPN), which enabled it to expand its footprint to the new Vitro Sta. Rosa data centre.

“As the Philippines rapidly digitizes, HGC is advancing high-speed, reliable connectivity through its operations on the ground in partnership with local entities, ensuring the country’s connectivity needs are met,” said Michael De Castro, first VP of in-country project investment for HGC’s international business unit, and president of HGC’s Digital Well Infrastructure Corp (DWIC), in a statement. “With this robust infrastructure, the country is set to enhance connectivity, drive innovation, and attract global investments.”

News 

The trial paves the way for bringing satellite-enabled messaging to customers in remote areas across Europe 

Deutsche Telekom, Qualcomm, and Skylo Technologies have completed what they claim is Europe’s first successful trial of text messaging direct-to-handset over satellite.  

The trial, conducted in Greece by Deutsche Telekom’s local subsidiary Cosmote, saw the Cosmote’s terrestrial mobile network integrated with Skylo’s GEO satellite network, allowing the device user to send and receive SMS messages. The devices used were equipped with a Snapdragon® X-80 5G Modem-RF System and integrated NB-NTN satellite connectivity. 

The messages were sent over Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum and were based technically on 3GPP’s Release 17 specifications for Direct-to-Handset (D2H) connectivity. This will allow customers to send and receive text messages globally, even in areas without traditional mobile coverage, using their regular phones, with no ad-ons or additional hardware.  

Perhaps the biggest advantage here is the use of commercially licensed MSS spectrum, which is available on a pan-European basis, allowing devices to roam seamlessly across international borders.  

“Soon, subscribers won’t have to think twice about coverage before texting, whether they’re on a remote island in Greece or venturing in regions without cell coverage – it’ll be a part of their cellular service. The future of satellite connectivity is strong integration into carrier networks and we’re excited to partner with Deutsche Telekom which has been paving the way for these new services”, said Parthsarathi Trivedi, CEO and co-founder of Skylo in a press rel ease. 

The technology could play a key role in improving coverage for rural communities, enhancing emergency response, and providing reliable connectivity wherever it is needed. 

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Also in the news:
Sweden asks Chinese ship to return for investigation after Baltic Sea cable damage
Australia regulator dishes out midband spectrum for private networks
BT unveils new managed SASE service 

Two bits of news from the northeastern US, one from the Mediterranean, and a couple from Australia: … [visit site to read more]

MTN Group announced on Monday it has commercially launched its 5G network in Congo-Brazzaville, making it the group’s sixth 5G launch in Africa along with last week’s launch of 5G in Benin.

MTN Congo has been trialling 5G in a pilot project since October 2022, and announced last month that it was ready to launch 5G services. The official commercial launch ceremony was held last Thursday, although no details were given in terms of coverage.

Ebenezer Twum Asante, MTN Group’s VP of the East, West and Central Africa, said in a statement that 5G would serve as a cornerstone for Congo-Brazzaville’s economic and social development.

“In a context where digital infrastructure has become the basis of economic growth, MTN Congo intends to actively contribute to making Congo a digital innovation hub in Central Africa,” he said.

MTN Group first launched commercial 5G in its home base of South Africa in June 2020. Since then, its subsidiaries have also launched 5G in Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia. On Friday, MTN officially launched Benin’s first commercial 5G network, with initial services available in select areas of the port city of Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi.

MTN said 5G trials are currently underway in South Sudan, and the group is working to secure the spectrum and licences to extend its 5G footprint. The group says it rolled out 2,251 5G sites across its various markets in 2023, and added another 829 5G sites in the first half of this year.

“5G is more than a technological advancement – it is the foundation for innovation, economic growth, and the creation of new opportunities,” said MTN Group chief technology and information officer Mazen Mroue.

News 

The new service is powered by technology from California-based cybersecurity company Fortinet  

BT has expanded its secure networking service for UK businesses, introducing new features designed to protect cloud data and applications. The upgrade, powered by cybersecurity company Fortinet, adds increased security to BT’s existing Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) services, making it easier for companies to securely access the cloud and managing their networks effectively. 

The new capabilities include AI-powered Security Service Edge (SSE) features, such as firewall-as-a-service, secure web gateways, and zero-trust network access. These tools ensure that only verified users and devices can access sensitive company resources.  

As businesses increasingly shift to cloud-based operations and support employees working from various locations, these new features provide a solution for keeping data and applications safe. With this expanded service, BT aims to simplify network security and help companies protect themselves against growing cyber threats while maintaining seamless access to cloud services, the company said. 

“Building upon our decade-long partnership, we’re proud to collaborate on the new SASE service with BT to enable its UK customers to converge networking and security,” said Nirav Shah, Vice President, Products and Solutions at Fortinet in a press release.  

“SASE complements the cybersecurity platform approach to delivering integrated security and secure network access regardless of where users are located. By combining Fortinet’s cutting-edge SASE and secure networking solutions with a leading choice of fixed and 5G access networks from BT, customers can have a nimble, robust, and more secure network to help them get the best from the cloud,” he continued. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter  

Also in the news:
VMO2 launches UK’s first 5G standalone small cells in Birmingham
BT says Labour’s budget will cost company £100m
Vodafone Spain and Telefonica complete FibreCo deal 

There was a bit of FTTx consolidation news on Friday on the east coast. IQ Fiber has announced an agreement to acquire ThinkBig Networks in a move that will take it northward into the state of Maryland. … [visit site to read more]

Telecom operator MTN Benin officially launched the country’s first commercial 5G network on Friday, with initial services available in select areas of the port city of Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi.

At the launch ceremony, MTN Benin touted 5G’s potential role in accelerating digital transformation for enterprises and expanding digital services in Benin, especially in terms of streaming, video games and Internet of Things (IoT), according to the Ecofin news agency.

Bolaji Adeola, senior network manager at MTN Benin, also said 5G can enable smart agriculture and boost healthcare access with services like remote care and teleconsultation, as well as improve logistics services, the report said.

MTN’s business director Chary Doumbia said 5G services will expanded throughout Cotonou and the rest of the country “soon”, but gave no specific timeline for rollout plans.

According to Ecofin, MTN Benin’s 5G network is partially funded by a syndicated loan of XOF65 billion (US$103.8 million) it obtained in July from various regional financial institutions, including West African Development Bank (BOAD), Banque Atlantique, Société Générale, Banque Internationale pour l’Industrie et le Commerce (BIIC), and BGFI Bank.

In January this year, MTN Group pledged to invest US$215 million in infrastructure in Benin over the next three years after seeing positive results from 5G trials in the country.

According to the latest figures from Benin’s telcoms regulator ARCEP, MTN Benin was the biggest mobile operator in the country at the end of June 2024, with just over 11 million subscriptions – 6.1 million of which are active mobile Internet subscriptions.

News 

The report, commissioned by Openreach, is summary of the ‘spatial, employment and social impacts’ of the company’s full fibre rollout 

A new report commissioned by Openreach and produced by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has outlined the value of ultrafast connectivity could deliver to the UK economy by 2034.  

The report forecasts that the rollout of full fibre could add £66 billion a year to the UK economy by 2029, rising to £73 billion by 2034. It attributes this growth to improved productivity and the return of over 620,000 people to the workforce by the end of the current parliament, with numbers climbing to 652,000 by 2034. 

Realising these potential economic gains, however, relies heavily not only on  the technology’s effective delivery, but on its widespread, especially in less connected regions. Recent research from Point Topic suggests that fibre take-up in the UK currently sits at 34.7%, below the European average of 54.4%.  

The report also highlights the shift to remote work, which was accelerated by the pandemic, as a key driver in fibre’s ongoing economic impact. By 2029, it estimates an additional 900,000 people will be working from home compared to 2024, many in rural areas. This could help reverse rural depopulation trends by allowing people to live further from major cities while maintaining their careers. However, delivering reliable broadband to hard-to-reach areas remains a major challenge. 

The environmental benefits of the fibre rollout could also be significant. By 2034, the reduction in commuting is expected to cut over 4 billion kilometres of car travel annually, leading to a reduction of 320,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. While these numbers are encouraging, they hinge on widespread adoption of remote work and sustained progress in building digital infrastructure. 

The report also highlights how full fibre could enhance public services. It estimates that the NHS could enable 5 million additional online appointments by 2029, while better broadband access may help thousands of students achieve higher grades.  

Beyond its economic and environmental impacts, Openreach emphasises the social value generated by the rollout. The company estimates that small and medium-sized businesses gain £1.2 billion annually from enhanced connectivity, and it reports over 8,000 hours of staff volunteering in community projects. Openreach has also implemented ethical training for its 16,000 suppliers to strengthen responsible practices.  

The UK’s fibre rollout is a significant infrastructural investment, but it is not without challenges. Ensuring equitable access across regions, maintaining delivery pace, and helping communities adapt to new technologies will all be critical. While the report paints an optimistic picture of what ultrafast broadband could achieve, turning that potential into reality will require close collaboration between government, industry, and local stakeholders. 

Join us at next year’s Connected North 2025 live in Manchester! Discounted tickets are available here 

Also in the news:
VMO2 launches UK’s first 5G standalone small cells in Birmingham
BT says Labour’s budget will cost company £100m
Vodafone Spain and Telefonica complete FibreCo deal

Underlining Saudi Arabia’s reputation as the fastest-growing data centre market in the Middle East are no fewer than three data centre-related announcements this week.

The first is from data centre infrastructure provider Pure Data Centres, and digital infrastructure platform Dune Vaults. These two companies have announced a joint venture to develop hyperscale data centres in Saudi Arabia.

The partners says they plan to develop multiple 100+ MW-capacity campuses of best-in-class facilities, making their venture one of the largest data centre providers in the region, poised to meet growing local and international customer demand.

Meanwhile, data centre and digital infrastructure services company Ezditek says it has broken ground on its flagship data centre facility in the capital, Riyadh.

The RUH01, as it will be known, is to be located on a more than 35,000 square metre plot in the Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU). It is mainly aimed at providing a sustainable and scalable foundation for local digital transformation.

Its strategic location, says Ezditek, provides an ideal entry point for hyperscalers, cloud providers and enterprises looking to establish a presence in the country with direct access to major carriers.

Ezditek adds that the RUH01 will reach 100% of public and enterprise customers in the Saudi central region and deliver a maximum capacity of 24 MW. The facility is expected to go live by Q1 2026.

The third announcement involves Saudi ICT infrastructure company Tawal and 5SKYE, a provider of edge AI infrastructure solutions, which have signed a partnership through which they will jointly deploy 5SKYE’s next-generation 5G AI micro edge data centres, providing what is described as scalable, real-time data processing.

By combining Tawal’s telecommunications expertise with 5SKYE’s “innovative and aesthetically pleasing” edge AI use case infrastructure, the partnership says it will enable industries across the kingdom to adopt intelligent applications that enhance efficiency, reduce costs and drive growth.

The infrastructure, say the partners, will support transformative use cases such as IoT-driven CCTV, AI analytics, digital advertising and edge compute/MEC, further empowering sectors like public safety, logistics, retail and industrial automation, as well as smart city initiatives.

As a number of news outlets note, these and many other such initiatives are driven by government digitalisation efforts, a ‘cloud first’ policy and a favourable regulatory environment, so we can, presumably, expect even more such announcements in the coming weeks and months.

Another attempt to manage virtual private network (VPN) use is under way in Pakistan, where the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has extended a deadline for unregistered VPN owners to give their details until the end of this month.

The official explanation for the mandatory registration requirements is government concern over the misuse of unauthorised VPNs for illicit activities, including bypassing internet restrictions and accessing prohibited content, accessing sensitive data and facilitating criminal or terrorist activities.

A nationwide crackdown on unregistered VPNs will begin on 1 December. This may include VPN blocking, which, local reports say, has already been successfully trialled once and will be trialled again before any full-scale shutdown.

The PTA stated last weekend that the authority has streamlined the VPN registration process for entities such as software houses, call centres, banks, embassies and freelancers; all of these can now easily register their VPNs online through the PTA’s official website.

Registration involves completing an online form and providing basic details, including, for freelancers, documentation verifying their project or company association. Applicants must also provide the IP address for VPN connectivity. 

Local reports suggest that Pakistanis make up to 20 million daily attempts to access blocked explicit content using unregistered VPNs, despite government restrictions.

As regular readers will remember, VPN use in Pakistan was in the news only a few months ago. An internet slowdown in August was blamed by activists on state attempts to build a China-style internet firewall as it looks to exert further control over the online space. Officials, however, blamed the widespread use of secure connections or VPNs for the slowdown.