Angola gets connected through multiple deals

Angola is set to receive high-capacity wireless offshore communication solutions from Paratus and Ceragon as well as high-speed connectivity through fiber backbone expansion by Liquid Dataport.

This is after pan-African telco Paratus Group signed a multi-year agreement with Ceragon Networks to provide high-capacity wireless offshore communication solutions in Angola, Mozambique, and Namibia.

In a statement, Paratus said the partnership will see it combine Ceragon's technology for offshore assets with its own onshore network infrastructure to provide fast and secure transmission of vital data.

The Ceragon technology connects offshore floating, rotating and navigating infrastructure via a uniquely stabilized live microwave link over distances of up to 100 km offshore to the Paratus network.

The partners said that offshore communications infrastructure needs to be reliable and resilient.

Therefore, the infrastructure needs to be able to withstand corrosion and difficult conditions but also to meet demanding safety regulations, especially when operating the equipment in highly explosive environments.

"Ceragon has an in-house certified solution that complies with ATEX Zone 1 and 2 specifications and fully meets these stringent safety requirements," the statement continued.

ATEX certification is a product regulation that ensures the safety of equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

"By partnering with Ceragon, we will now be able to provide solutions for offshore operations that need high capacity to transmit data at high speed and with low latency," said Paratus Group Chief Technical Officer Rolf Mendelsohn.

"While our stabilizing equipment for the offshore environment has been deployed in other parts of the world, this agreement is a first for Africa," added Ceragon Oil and Gas Global Sales Manager Adam Torry.

Liquid Dataport connects Angola and Zambia

Elsewhere, Liquid Dataport is expanding its fiber network to connect Angola and Zambia directly.

The move follows another fiber link between Lobito in Angola and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The fiber expansion also follows Liquid Dataport launching a new fiber route connecting Mombasa in Kenya to Muanda on the west coast of the DRC last month.

The company's newest announcement is a 2,500 km fiber route between Angola and Zambia, bringing additional and affordable Internet services to millions of people along the way.

The fiber backbone expansion will connect Angola's capital Luanda, via Chavuma, in the northwest of Zambia to the capital city Lusaka.

Liquid Dataport's new fiber backbone expansion will connect Angola's capital Luanda, via Chavuma, in the northwest of Zambia to its capital city of Lusaka. (Source: Liquid Dataport.)

Liquid Dataport already has a 110,000 km fiber backbone that is providing its regional customers access to high-speed connectivity as well as cloud services.

"In the last few months, we have launched multiple new routes interconnecting countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Building a route that directly connects Angola and Zambia is key to our Group's vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind," said Liquid Intelligent Technologies Group CEO Hardy Pemhiwa.

African connectivity deals everywhere

Angola's newest connectivity deals come at a time when other companies are also inking similar deals across the continent.

In May 2023, Angola Cables and telecommunications company Orange partnered in an infrastructure sharing agreement on the West African Djoliba Network.

That new route follows a partnership between Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Nokia on a new terrestrial fiber route connecting Mombasa, Kenya, and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Also in May, MTN Group's Bayobab partnered with infrastructure investment agency Africa50 to build a terrestrial fiber cable worth 6 billion South African rand (US$328 million).

Elsewhere, pan-African operator Vodacom announced ambitions to increase its fiber reach, specifically in low-income areas, through a deal with South African fiber company MAZIV. But Vodacom is still waiting for the investment to be approved by regulatory authorities.

At the beginning of March 2023, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement with wholesale telecommunications infrastructure provider Bandwidth and Cloud Services (BCS) to build a new fiber optic backbone network in the eastern region of the DRC.

In January 2023, Dark Fiber Africa (DFA) and BCS also completed the first stage of their long-haul fiber backbone project in Zimbabwe.

Related posts:

*Top image is of an offshore oil and gas rig that will be connected by Ceragon and Paratus Group. (Source: Paratus Group.)

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa