News

The project includes the deployment thousands of kilometres of fibre cables as Syria looks to become a regional digital hub

This week, Saudi Arabian communication giant STC Group has announced it has won a roughly $800 million contract to lead Syria’s Silklink infrastructure project.

Silklink is a joint venture with the new Syrian government aimed at improving communication both regionally and internationally. It includes the deployment of around 4,500km of optical fibre, as well as the establishment of data centres and international submarine cable landing stations.

STC will hold a 75% stake in Silklink, with the remaining 25% stake held by the Syrian Sovereign Fund.

The new backbone network will be used to underpin Syria’s digital transformation, supporting digital applications, cloud services, the IoT, and advanced mobile services. It will also serve to make the county a key data transit route between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

While no specific deadlines for the network’s deployment have been announced, Syria’s minister of communications and information technology, Abdulsalam Haykal, said the development would take place in two phases over the next 18–24 months.

For STC, the investment represents its latest efforts to improve cross-border connectivity in the Middle East, helping position Saudi Arabia as the region’s digital centre. STC is currently building a similar international backbone network in Oman with Ooredoo, as well as working to connect both the 2Africa and Saudi Vision Cable subsea networks to countries across the region.

The Silklink project was also announced alongside roughly $2 billion-worth of economic agreements between the Saudi Arabian and Syrian governments, highlighting the warming of a once frosty relationship. These investments notably include the creation of new low-cost airline, aimed at helping reconnect Syria to international travel after years of flight restrictions.

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Cassava Technologies has cleared another regulatory milestone in South Africa for the sale of shares in its Africa Data Centres (ADC) unit to STANLIB Asset Management, a private equity firm backed by Standard Bank and Liberty Global.

South Africa’s Competition Tribunal said it has “unconditionally approved” STANLIB’s acquisition of a stake in Cassava Africa Data Centres South Africa. Following the transaction, STANLIB will hold joint control of the business, with the option to acquire sole control at a later stage.

The decision follows approval granted by the Competition Commission in January, which concluded the transaction was unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in any market and raised no significant public interest concerns.

ADC, a subsidiary of Cassava Technologies, operates nine data centres across six African countries, serving around 400 enterprise and hyperscale customers.

STANLIB made an undisclosed investment in ADC in October, aimed at accelerating the expansion of the operator’s South African footprint to meet growing demand for digital infrastructure in the country.

Elon Musk has played down reports that Starlink is developing its own smartphone, pushing back on claims the satellite operator is seeking new revenue streams through a proprietary handset.

Reuters had reported that Starlink was exploring the idea of selling a phone with unique connectivity features designed to tap directly into its low-Earth orbit satellite network. Sources said details such as the device’s design and specifications were unclear, though the company had internally discussed the concept for several years.

Musk had previously fuelled speculation. Responding to questions on X about a potential “Starlink phone” in earlier comments, he said such a device was “not out of the question at some point,” adding it could be differentiated from existing smartphones by being “optimised purely for running max performance/watt neural nets,” a nod to AI-focused hardware efficiency.

However, Musk moved quickly to dismiss the latest report, posting on X that “we are not developing a phone,” casting doubt on whether the concept has progressed beyond early-stage discussions.

Rather than entering the crowded handset market, Starlink has focused on partnerships with mobile operators to deliver direct-to-device connectivity, allowing standard smartphones to connect to satellites without specialised hardware.

Beyond connectivity, Starlink’s parent company SpaceX continues to explore adjacent opportunities, including expanded direct-to-device services and a space-tracking offering, as it looks to monetise its growing satellite infrastructure without venturing into consumer device manufacturing.

Malaysian telco Maxis revealed on Thursday it has migrated its mission-critical workloads – including those for all of its digital services – from the Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Singapore Region to the AWS Malaysia Region.

Maxis said that hosting workloads locally reduces latency for its digital services, including its Maxis and Hotlink apps, which means faster response times and a smoother experience for customers. 

The telco also said the move – which was carried out by its internal cloud engineering team – also drives operational efficiency and a more cost-effective operating model by eliminating cross-region data traffic, enabling Maxis to focus on value creation.

“By bringing our mission-critical workloads home, we are securing our data within Malaysia’s borders while improving efficiency to better serve our customers,” said Maxis CIO Ng May Ching in a statement. “This ensures our infrastructure is resilient and future-ready to support the nation’s digital agenda.”

Maxis’ chief enterprise business officer Prateek Pashine noted that bringing its cloud operations local reinforces the telco’s ability to help Malaysian businesses do the same. 

“We are well-positioned to help customers address data sovereignty requirements while delivering the fast, reliable, and secure connectivity they need for responsive performance,” he said.

« By building on the AWS Malaysia Region, Maxis’ successful migration demonstrates what’s achievable, and positions them to guide other Malaysian enterprises through their own cloud transformations,” added AWS Malaysia country manager Hussein Mohd Ali.

Maxis is an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner and AWS Direct Connect Partner in Malaysia. AWS launched its Malaysia Region in August 2024.

The People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB) Zimbabwe’s only 100% home grown savings bank, has announced a strategic collaboration with Mastercard to launch POSB Remit Outbound.

The service aims to provide a fast, secure and cost-effective way for customers in Zimbabwe to send money directly to bank accounts, mobile wallets and cash abroad.

Powered by Mastercard Move, a portfolio of global money movement capabilities, the service delivers a simple, transparent and fast way to send funds to 21 international destinations, including South Africa, the UK, the US, Canada, India, Australia and countries within Europe’s Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) region.

Mastercard says the launch of this service responds to a growing need for reliable outbound money transfer solutions, which play a vital role in supporting cross-border mobility, trade and investment. It says outbound payments are increasingly important for individuals and businesses to manage education expenses, medical payments, family support and commercial transactions abroad.

POSB Remit Outbound addresses this market gap by enabling outward remittances through a trusted, accessible channel. The service is available at all POSB branches nationwide, with transfers starting from as little as US$5.00. Funds are credited directly into recipients’ bank accounts, mobile wallets or cashout agents.

Gabriel Swanepoel, Country Manager, Mastercard Southern Africa, explains: “By combining Mastercard Move’s innovative money movement solutions and extensive reach with POSB’s trusted local presence, we are enabling Zimbabweans to move money securely and transparently, with the choice and speed they need to thrive in today’s connected economy.”

Mastercard Move spans 200 countries and territories, supporting transactions in over 150 currencies.

Outbound payments do appear to be a growing market in Africa lately. A few days ago we reported that MTN Mobile Money Zambia had launched a new service that enables customers to send money directly from their Mobile Money (MoMo) wallets to international bank accounts across countries in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Press Release

Grid Telecom, a wholesale telecommunications provider and subsidiary of IPTO, has announced the construction of ARTEMIS, an ultra-high-capacity subsea optical fiber cable system that will link Crete with mainland Greece.

As a new strategic digital corridor in the Eastern Mediterranean, ARTEMIS is set to strengthen decisively regional connectivity, enhance Greece’s geopolitical footprint, and accelerate the country’s ongoing digital transformation.

The ARTEMIS system will be equipped with subsea repeaters and will span approximately 280 kilometres, including its terrestrial segments linking the cable landing stations. Ιt will interconnect all landing stations and data centers in Crete and Attica region, enabling data transmission rates of up to 30 Tbps per fiber-pair. With a minimum of 24 fiber-pairs, ARTEMIS will deliver an overall design capacity of at least 720 Tbps, more than meeting all medium‑ and long‑term digital infrastructure needs.

Engineered to support the next generation of cutting‑edge technologies, ARTEMIS will take full advantage of the relatively short transmission distance and the capability to expand the optical spectrum. As a result, the system is poised to become the first petabit-class subsea cable in Greece and the Mediterranean, with a potential total capacity exceeding 1 petabit per second, pushing well beyond the performance limits of today’s subsea optical fiber systems, setting a new benchmark for regional and international digital connectivity.

Grid Telecom continues to invest in state‑of‑the‑art infrastructure with the goal of transforming Crete into a strategic digital hub, delivering network reliability, flexibility and diversity. Grid Telecom will leverage the synergies between the new ARTEMIS system and its existing Minoas East‑West and Apollo East‑West systems, which already connect the island to mainland Greece through four independent routes and a total of 96 fiber-pairs. The Minoas East‑West system links Chania to the Peloponnese, providing a low‑latency alternative route, while the Apollo East‑West system provides a direct connection between Heraklion and Attica, with no intermediate cable landing stations, adding another critical alternative path.

In line with its commitment to advancing next‑generation telecommunications services, Grid Telecom is proceeding with the immediate construction of new cable landing stations in Chania and Attica. These facilities will serve both as landing points for the ARTEMIS cable system and as critical gateways for international subsea fiber cables traversing the Eastern Mediterranean, linking Greece with the Middle East and Western Europe. ARTEMIS will incorporate Open Cable Interface Equipment (OCIE), enabling seamless integration with all international cable systems, eliminating the need for additional transmission terminal equipment and providing direct, cost‑efficient backhaul access to all data centers.

With these infrastructures in place, Grid Telecom as the premier neutral provider of wholesale telecom services in Greece, will deliver secure, open‑access landings and highly resilient connectivity through diversified fiber routes to both existing and emerging data centers in Crete, mainland Greece, and neighbouring countries. By fully leveraging its integrated terrestrial and subsea network assets, the company will ensure robust, scalable, and carrier‑grade connectivity across the region and provide comprehensive technical support and maintenance services at both infrastructure and operational levels.

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Papua New Guinea’s National Executive Council (NEC) – essentially its cabinet – has approved the Pukpuk Connectivity Initiative, which it has described as one of the most important digital infrastructure approvals in the nation’s recent history.

The approval relates to the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) proposal for a USD$120 million package of three new international submarine cable connections for Papua New Guinea.

Called the Pukpuk (a word meaning crocodile) Connectivity Initiative, the project is structured around a multi-route undersea cable solution, designed to bring three additional international cable connections to serve different parts of Papua New Guinea – specifically to improve redundancy and reduce single points of failure.This proposal will apparently come at no direct cost to the Papua New Guinean state.

The advantages the government cites include better reliability – there will be fewer disruptions when faults occur on any single route – along with improved service quality and stronger, more stable connectivity.

Improved affordability over time is another claim for the initiative as well as better access to essential services; the stronger backbone connectivity should be able to support education, health, banking and digital government.

This initiative is also about positioning Papua New Guinea as a credible digital investment destination with stronger redundancy and predictable wholesale capacity, notably by boosting a data centre economy, all of which would also create new employment opportunities.

The country’s Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will work closely with AIFFP and national stakeholders to undertake the preparatory phase, including preliminary technical and economic assessments, identification of suitable cable landing sites, and coordination with central agencies, regulators, and prospective private sector participants. There will also be a focus on strengthened planning for security, resilience and operational continuity, consistent with national obligations and treaty-aligned commitments.

Related to this will be comprehensive consultation with the telecommunications industry and private sector on how best these new assets should be structured and managed – consistent with competition principles that support open and fair wholesale access; strong reliability and resiliency standards; long-term affordability for consumers and businesses; and investment certainty for future expansion.

A press conference has been promised for the last week of February to outline the implementation roadmap.

Although this is not directly referenced by the government announcement, the origin of the initiative appears to lie in a mutual defence agreement between Papua New Guinea and Australia, something we reported in December last year.

News

The app provides GPS location tracking and an SOS button to quickly contact the police

Today, Openreach has announced the launch of a new worker safety app aimed at tackling the rampant abuse its engineers face while on the job.

The app, created in partnership with Peoplesafe, includes various safety features designed to support staff in the field. These include an SOS button and fall alarm connecting to a 24/7 control centre, GPS tracking for accurate emergency response, two-way audio and direct police dispatch, and commute monitoring and critical event alerts.

The app will be installed on all devices carried by Openreach engineers and will be optional for office staff.

“Fall alarms are activated by sensors in the person’s mobile phone, while the SOS alarms can be set off with a simple press of the handset. Emergency services can be on their way within minutes which is just incredible,” said Adam Elsworth, Safety Director at Openreach. “While Peoplesafe will only be mandatory for our field teams (due to the nature of their work) we hope all of our people will use the app to have peace of mind and support if and when they need it.”

Openreach recorded 700 incidents of either physical or verbal abuse since April last year. These include “being spat at, pushed down stairs, threatened with dogs and knives, punched and kicked and even barricaded into homes and vans”.

The company also says it has seen an increase in racially motivated incidents.

“The Peoplesafe app gives our people an added layer of safety while on the job and particularly for many of our colleagues that work alone for long periods of the day. It also helps us to address an area we have less control: attacks by members of the public,” said Elsworth.

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The move seeks to capitalise on Southeast Asia’s booming date centre market

This week, media reports suggest that a consortium led by KKR and Singtel is closing in on a deal to acquire ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC).

Negotiations, which are already at an “advanced stage”, would value the data centre business at around $10.22 billion.

“Singtel, as part of a consortium, continues to have discussions in relation to STT GDC. While these discussions are at an advanced stage, there is no certainty that such discussions will lead to any definitive or binding agreement,” said Singtel in a statement on Sunday.

STT GDC owns and operates around 100 data centres in over 20 markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, India, Germany, Italy, and the UK, according to the company website

Rumours that KKR and Singtel were in discussions to acquire STT GDC were first reported in July last year.

Both companies already hold stakes in the business, having jointly invested  $1.3 billion in 2024, with KKR owning 14.1% and Singtel 4.2%. The remaining majority stake in STT GDC is held by ST Telemedia, itself owned by Singapore’s state-owned holding company Temasek.

For Singtel, the deal would represent the operator’s latest step in its drive to become a regional AI data centre powerhouse.

The company’s Digital InfraCo unit was rebranded as Nxera in 2024, with the company aiming to expand its data centre capacity in Southeast Asia to 200MW by the end of 2027 in partnership with Nvidia.

By combining Nxera’s existing and planned data centre assets in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia with those of STT GDC, Singtel would immediately become one of the region’s largest digital infrastructure players.

KKR, on the other hand, already owns roughly 155 facilities with a pipeline of 12-gigawatts of capacity. The company has been on a spending spree in recent years to grow this capacity even further, most recently including a $1.5 billion investment in Global Technical Realty, a company specialising in building bespoke facilities for hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

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