According to a number of recent news reports, the government of Equatorial Guinea is considering joining the Medusa subsea cable to improve network stability.

Medusa is a submarine cable system linking the Mediterranean countries with the Atlantic and the Red Sea. While it was initially planned to connect Mediterranean countries, the project has been extended to Africa.

Medusa has been designed as an open access submarine cable system providing a full portfolio of services, including full fibre pairs and half fibre pairs. The system is designed to deliver a capacity of 480 terabits per second through a total of 24 fibre pairs.

The plan for Equatorial Guinea to join the cable, estimated to cost at €20–60 million (about US$23.1 million to US$69.3 million), with rollout targeted for 2029–2030, could cut outages, lower costs and expand digital access.

If it goes ahead, the city of Bata could be a logical landing point due to its population density and proximity to the capital, La Paz.

That said, this appears to be only a proposal at present; it is one of the priority measures outlined in a strategic study conducted by digital and technology consultancy Mason to modernise the country’s digital infrastructure.

The study highlights the need to strengthen the country’s links to high-capacity international networks to address current limitations.

The study was presented to government last week. Vice President Nguema Obiang Mangue has said it would be reviewed in detail by a technical committee in coordination with Medusa project officials.

The Ecofin news service says that in February the government of Equatorial Guinea signed a cooperation agreement with Nigeria to deploy a separate subsea fibre optic infrastructure. Nigeria is already connected to seven major international subsea cables.

Equatorial Guinea relies mainly on the ACE cable for its international connectivity, though it also operates several regional links.

African payments technology company Flutterwave has announced that it has secured a Nigerian banking license.

This license, it explains, enables the company to hold funds and deposits directly, strengthening its financial infrastructure across its largest market and permitting more efficient financial services and settlement flows for consumers, businesses and enterprises.

Flutterwave says it will continue to work closely with banking partners across the broader financial ecosystem. However, the license enables the company to internalise key elements of its financial value chain, improving operational efficiency and supporting faster product development.

This shift strengthens operational autonomy and allows Flutterwave to capture more value from the transactions processed within its ecosystem.

For over a decade Flutterwave says it has powered payments for millions of Nigerians and businesses across the world. With this license, the company explains, it is bringing that same infrastructure into a new generation of banking built for a number of areas including consumer financial services, notably seamless accounts, transfers, and payments for everyday users within the SendApp ecosystem, which enables users to send money internationally.

There will also be a focus on business financial tools, including accounts, payouts, payroll, and multi-currency capabilities; enterprise treasury infrastructure, including tools to manage complex financial operations, treasury, and liquidity; and digital platforms – embedded financial services for marketplaces and platform operators.

For developers there will be programmable financial infrastructure enabling the creation of financial products through APIs.

The banking license also enhances Flutterwave’s core payments business. Over a million people using SendApp will now access enhanced financial services, including personal account numbers and instant transfers, without switching apps. In addition, over two million businesses can now open accounts, manage payouts, run payroll, and access multi-currency capabilities.

Flutterwave says it will also introduce data-driven financial services, including working capital financing and merchant lending powered by real transaction data, alongside treasury and savings products.

Huawei and Jazz, Veon Group’s telco subsidiary in Pakistan, announced on Friday that they have deployed solar power systems across 1,000 base station sites nationwide, with a total installed capacity of 13 MW.

The project leverages Huawei’s integrated green site solutions, combining solar power, battery storage, and intelligent energy management to optimize performance across diverse operating conditions.

Huawei senior VP Steven Yi said the solution enables Jazz to transition traditional sites into more efficient, low-carbon infrastructure while improving overall energy availability.

Yi also said the solar-powered sites are expected to generate approximately 11 GWh of clean energy annually, reducing carbon emissions by around 15,000 tons per year.

Apart from the environmental benefits, the project also boosts Jazz’s network reliability, particularly in energy-constrained and underserved areas, enabling more consistent connectivity for customers, said JazzWorld CEO Aamir Ibrahim.

“Expanding solar across our network allows us to reduce our environmental footprint while improving service reliability for our customers,” he said in a statement.

Ibrahim added that Jazz will continue to expand its use of renewable energy across its network as part of its broader commitment to sustainable operations, which also aligns with Veon’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

South African open-access fibre network provider Maziv has announced a major investment to expand its network connectivity across South Africa over the next five to seven years.

Maziv, which owns a number of major brands in the country, including fibre network operator Vumatel and open-access fibre infrastructure and connectivity provider Dark Fibre Africa, committed to a R9 billion (about US$530 million) investment, with an additional pledge to create 10,000 new jobs, at the recent 2026 South African Investment Conference.

According to news resource MyBroadband, the company says it will prioritise low-income and underserved areas with the rollout of new fibre infrastructure and has promised to deliver high-quality broadband to these communities.

It also plans to provide 1Gbps free, uncapped internet access to every public or private school, public clinic and library within its network coverage area as part of its social mandate.

The 10,000 new job opportunities over the next seven years will either be created directly as part of the infrastructure rollout, or indirectly through the company’s partner ecosystem of local SMMEs, fibre installers and community-based service providers, many of which are likely to be involved in the expansion of its fibre network.

MyBroadband notes that the investment is good news for fibre rollout programmes in South Africa, which have slowed across the industry as companies struggled to secure capital for more infrastructure.

Capital expenditure across the industry apparently stagnated as a transaction through which operator Vodacom aimed to acquire a 30% stake in Maziv had trouble getting approval from the Competition Commission.

As we reported in November last year, the deal finally went ahead after a number of concessions were offered that allowed the Competition Commission to withdraw its objections to the transaction. It was then approved by telecommunications regulator ICASA.

The knock-on effect of the deal finally being allowed to proceed, it appears, has been to help unlock industry-wide investment, as this announcement indicates.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Paul Wright, Chief Revenue Officer at CBNG

For much of the past decade, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has been marketed around peak sector throughput. Vendors highlight multi-gigabit physical layer rates. Operators quote headline sector capacity. Lab demonstrations showcase ideal single-user speeds under pristine radio frequency (RF) conditions. … [visit site to read more]

News

T-Mobile and private equity firm TPG are considering a bid to carve up Uniti Group, with T-Mobile targeting the consumer last-mile fibre business and TPG interested in the wholesale and enterprise fibre assets, according to reports.

Uniti has spent the past year repositioning itself around fibre following the recombination with Windstream, accelerating buildouts and shifting customers from legacy copper services to modern fibre networks. Uniti’s Q4 results for 2025 saw the company add 28,000 net Kinetic fibre subscribers and pass an additional 80,000 premises with fibre, bringing total premises passed close to 1.9 million.

Management has emphasised a balanced strategy across retail, wholesale and enterprise lines, with Kinetic focused on smaller metro and suburban footprints while the enterprise and carrier transport business supplies long-haul routes and wholesale capacity. Investor materials highlight a presence across some 18 states, with more than half of households located in the Southeast and a significant concentration in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets where competition is lighter.

The company has yet to begin a formal sale process, but has said it is open to reviewing interests from several parties.

For T-Mobile, acquiring a built fibre last-mile could fast-track its fixed broadband ambitions and provide a ready retail brand and subscriber base to pair with its wireless services. However, it would also bring substantial legacy copper liabilities and migration challenge, with Uniti currently transitioning some of its customers to its fibre networks.

TPG’s interest, on the other hand, would be consistent with its recent activity in communications infrastructure, having pursued large-scale fibre and tower opportunities in recent years.

No financial details of the potential offers have been revealed.

Nonetheless, the rumour has triggered a sharp uptick in Uniti’s share price, jumping roughly 14% on the news.

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Lots of interesting news from around the industry to catch up with before Easter: … [visit site to read more]

Rome, 2 April 2026

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, announces a new collaboration with EdgeNext, a global Content Delivery Network (CDN) and Intelligent Edge Cloud Platform, for the provision of International IP Transit services in Europe. Through this agreement, Sparkle enables EdgeNext to expand its network presence beyond Asia, providing its European clients with faster, more reliable connectivity.

EdgeNext is a leading provider of edge cloud services, offering networking, security, and computing solutions to enterprise clients. The company operates over 1,500 edge nodes across more than 290 cities worldwide, supporting its goal of delivering reliable, high-performance digital access globally, with a focus on Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, with plans to expand further internationally.

Under the agreement, Sparkle will provide IP Transit via its Tier 1 global IP backbone, Seabone, offering reliable, low-latency IP transit services in Europe with throughput in the range of Terabits per second. Both companies aim to replicate this success in Africa and South America, expanding global digital access and enabling the next generation of cloud services.

“We are pleased to partner with EdgeNext in their expansion to Europe,” said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. “Through our Seabone network, we are able to provide reliable, high-performance connectivity to support their cloud and CDN services, helping them deliver optimal experiences to their clients.”

“Partnering with Sparkle allows us to rely on a Tier 1 global operator, extending our network capabilities beyond Asia,” said Terence Wang, CEO of EdgeNext. “Through this collaboration, we can offer faster and more reliable services to our European clients, marking an important step in our international expansion.”

With 89 PoPs in Europe and a comprehensive suite of IP solutions, including DDoS Protection and Virtual NAP, Sparkle positions itself as a partner of choice for cloud providers and network operators worldwide, delivering ultra-fast, low-latency, high-performance connectivity across Europe and beyond.

About Sparkle

Sparkle is TIM Group’s global operator, first international service provider in Italy and among the top worldwide, offering a full range of infrastructure and global connectivity services – capacity, IP, SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, roaming and voice – to national and international Carriers, OTTs, ISPs, Media/Content Providers, and multinational enterprises. As a leading player in the submarine cable industry, Sparkle owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fiber stretching across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and Asia. Sparkle’s sales team has a global presence, with representatives in 32 countries.

Find out more about Sparkle following its X and LinkedIn profiles or visiting the website tisparkle.com

About EdgeNext

EdgeNext is a prominent leader in the global edge cloud services industry, with a robust infrastructure of over 1,500 edge nodes spanning more than 290 cities worldwide. The company has established strong interconnection partnerships with over 100 key operators worldwide, enabling it to deliver comprehensive edge cloud services, including networking, security, and computing, to meet the diverse needs of its enterprise clients. As part of its ongoing commitment to expanding its presence and capabilities, EdgeNext has been actively growing its infrastructure throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This expansion allows EdgeNext to provide tailored, high-performance solutions for major Internet Service Providers (ISPs), local businesses, international organizations, and strategic partners, ensuring their specific needs are met with precision and efficiency.

Sparkle Media Contacts:

sparkle.communication@tisparkle.com

X: @TISparkle

EdgeNext Media Contacts:
marketing@edgenext.com

Telecoms infrastructure provider Helios Towers has unveiled a plan to invest US$100 million to expand its telecoms infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with backing from the National Agency for the Promotion of Investments (ANAPI).

Under an agreement between Helios Towers DRC and ANAPI, Helios’ expansion program will cover all 23 provinces including Kinshasa, Upper Katanga, Kongo Central, Maniema, Ituri, Kasai Central, Eastern Kasai, Kwilu, Mai-Ndombe, Mongala, North Kivu, North Ubangi, Sankuru, South Kivu, Lualaba, Tanganyika, Tshopo, Ecuador, Upper Uélé, South Ubangi, Upper Lomami and Kasai.

Helios said it aims to significantly strengthen network coverage throughout the DRC and meet growing demand for connectivity and digital services.

ANAPI said it has been supporting Helios Towers projects in the DRC since 2011, injecting more than US$200 million across several phases of investment.

ANAPI director general Rachel Pungu Luamba said that apart from the telecoms infrastructure gains, the latest expansion project will also create around a hundred direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs for young Congolese.

« This investment illustrates the renewed confidence of international partners in the economic potential of the DRC, as well as the effectiveness of the reforms undertaken to improve the business climate, » she said at a press event in Kinshasa announcing the investment plan on Tuesday.

She added that the Helios investment also serves the government’s National Digital Plan « Horizon 2025 » and the « DRC Digital Nation 2030 » vision, which aim to make digital tech a pillar of economic and social development.