State-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cables (BSCPLC) has warned that internet services will experience slowdowns or disruptions from now until Monday due to repairs being carried out on the SEA-ME-WE-5 subsea cable.

In a statement released on Wednesday, BSCPLC said that the SEA-ME-WE-5 consortium would conduct fault repair maintenance on the cable’s S1.5.1 shunt from Thursday evening (April 9) local time to the morning of April 13.

During that time, the repair work will impact circuits routed between Singapore and SEA-ME-WE 5’s landing station in Kuakata, which may result in slower internet speeds or partial service interruptions, BSCPLC said.

BSCPLC added that service on Bangladesh’s other international subsea cable route, SEA-ME-WE-4, will continue as normal.

However, SEA-ME-WE-4 provides only a third of Bangladesh’s international subsea cable capacity at around 800 Gbps, compared to roughly 1.7 Tbps on SEA-ME-WE 5. A break on the same route in 2024 heavily impacted internet services in the country, highlighting the need for Bangladesh to install more international capacity.

BSCPLC – which is a stakeholder in both subsea cables – is also a member of the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable consortium, but that system’s ready-for-service date has been pushed back to 2027.

The Bangladesh Private Cable System (BPCS) consortium announced plans in September 2024 to construct a privately-owned 1,300-km subsea cable connecting Cox’s Bazar to the Campana-owned UMO subsea cable that runs from Myanmar to Singapore, giving the country another 45 Tbps of capacity.

In December last year, BPCS contracted Nokia to supply submarine line terminal equipment for the project, which is tentatively slated to be ready for service in the second half of this year.

Two bits of inorganic activity, and some fiber in the deep south: … [visit site to read more]

A few stories to keep up with from: … [visit site to read more]

Smart Communications, Ericsson and Meta announced on Tuesday they have jointly optimised Smart’s network to support better-quality OTT voice and video calls for Meta’s Messenger app in the Philippines.

Ericsson and Smart said they fine-tuned key technical parameters in Smart’s live network in the Luzon area of the Philippines in collaboration with Meta’s local team to enhance network performance.

The result: 24.6% lower round-trip time for Messenger calls, 55% lower packet loss for fewer interruptions, and clearer video at nearly 20% higher video bitrate, all of which enable more stable and reliable real-time conversations.

“These improvements mean [customers’] video calls over Messenger are sharper, and they can enjoy continuous calls with their loved ones,” said Debbie M. Hu, head of network at Smart Communications.

Hu added that the network enhancements also benefit other OTT voice and video call apps, not just Messenger.

Daniel Ode, head of Singapore, Philippines and Brunei at Ericsson, added that the initiative “demonstrates how focused global technical expertise, decades of trusted telco leadership, and platform-level coordination can come together to produce tangible, customer-facing improvements — clearer audio, fewer interruptions, and a more dependable calling experience that Filipinos can rely on every day.”

A few items from over the Easter break worth to catch up on: … [visit site to read more]

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]