TelCables Nigeria to launch PoP to boost West African connectivity

TelCables Nigeria, a subsidiary of ICT solutions and services provider Angola Cables, has announced that it will open a new point of presence (PoP) at the Lagos Rack Centre facility aimed at boosting low-latency interconnectivity and cloud access across West Africa. 

Fernando Fernandes, CEO of TelCables Nigeria and West Africa, said that this strategic expansion aims to significantly enhance digital connectivity across West Africa using the Angola Cables backbone network.

"The new PoP at Rack Centre represents a crucial step towards strengthening the digital infrastructure of West Africa, providing faster, more reliable internet access to local enterprises, government institutions, and individuals by localising traffic," explained Fernandes in a statement.  

He added that with direct access to the Angola Cables' South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) and West Africa Cable System (WACS) subsea cables connections, data traffic can be more efficiently routed to South American and US markets and onto Europe via EllaLink as a standard routing option or as a redundancy option should the need arise to redirect traffic.  

Angola Cables has its own submarine cable network spanning over 33,000km (via WACS, SACS and MONET) and extends its services to over 50,000km through partner cables, connecting the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia.

Related:Angola Cables' unit TelCables enters Nigerian market

The company has more than 30 PoPs and connections to 66 interconnected data centers and 6,000 peering agreements.

Angola Cables has its own submarine cable network spanning over 33,000km (WACS, SACS and MONET) and extends its services to over 50,000km through partner cables, connecting the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. (Source: Angola Cables)

Angola Cables has been operating in West Africa since November 2022 when its subsidiary TelCables entered the region to offer ICT solutions.

In March 2024, TelCables South Africa also opened a new PoP at Teraco's data center facility in Durban.

Rack Centre expanding Lagos campus

Rack Centre CEO Lars Johannisson said that the Rack Centre Lagos campus, which is currently being expanded with the addition of the LGS 2 Data Centre, is nearing completion, bringing the data center campus capacity to 13.5MW of IT Power and 7,200 square meters of space.

"The significance of this is that once completed, operators like TelCables, hyperscalers, businesses, telecom operators and service providers will have access to world-class carrier and cloud-neutral infrastructure to securely scale their digital operations, ultimately fostering economic growth in Nigeria and the West Africa region," Johannisson said.

Rack Centre CEO Lars Johannisson. (Source: Rack Centre)

Rack Centre is a Tier III Carrier and cloud-neutral data center in West Africa and was established in 2012.

Rack Centre Lagos already accommodates over 68 telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs), and global Tier 1 networks. 

Related:ATF 2023: Sudhir Juggernath on TelCables' Africa growth strategy

Johannisson said that the LGS 2 data center has also been developed to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) readiness to allow for enhanced data processing and storage capabilities. 

Fernandes said that TelCables is a growing entity within the Nigerian geography, and the group believes that collaboration is key to building and promoting resilient and efficient digital infrastructure in the region. 

"Our partnership with Rack Centre is part of a greater vision, and if we can do this together, we are setting the right course for Africa's future prosperity as a contributor to the rapidly evolving digital economy," Fernandes concluded.