Airtel Africa’s wholesale fiber arm, Airtel Africa Telesonic, has chosen Nokia to deploy a transformative, high-capacity terrestrial fiber community spanning East and Central Africa.
The main infrastructure challenge, introduced this week on the Africa Tech Pageant in Cape City, is strategically designed to fulfill the continent’s exploding demand for knowledge.
The challenge’s major goal is to attach a number of African international locations to the huge capability of recent submarine cables, most critically serving because the terrestrial bridge for the 2Africa subsea cable. This may carry high-speed, dependable, and inexpensive connectivity from the coast to landlocked areas, offering a significant artery for wholesale knowledge. The influence will likely be significantly important for landlocked nations, with experiences indicating this community will change into Uganda’s major, high-speed path to the worldwide web through the 2Africa cable.
This new spine is a cornerstone of the technique for Telesonic, which Airtel Africa launched in early 2024 to handle and monetize its in depth 75,000-kilometer terrestrial fiber community throughout 14 markets. By connecting these present property to new subsea programs, Telesonic is positioning itself as a dominant drive within the wholesale knowledge market.

Nokia will deploy its 1830 Photonic Service Swap (PSS) platform, equipping the brand new community to help as much as 38 Terabits per second (Tbps) of knowledge visitors. The Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) community will include 139 nodes and is “C+L Band Prepared.” This “future-proof” function means the community can use each C-band and L-band frequencies on the fiber, successfully doubling its potential data-carrying capability as demand grows while not having to put new cables.
PD Sarma, Chief Govt Officer of Airtel Africa Telesonic, emphasised the challenge’s financial significance. “Our collaboration with Nokia is a big milestone in advancing Africa’s digital infrastructure,” Sarma mentioned. “By leveraging Nokia’s cutting-edge fiber-optic options, we goal to fulfill the escalating demand for knowledge throughout the continent. This community will drive financial progress, empower communities, and create new alternatives for companies and people alike.”
The improve is ready to supply a serious increase for cloud-based companies and high-speed connectivity for companies, instructional establishments, and healthcare amenities.
“Deploying Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Swap platform is a pivotal improve to our community infrastructure throughout Africa,” mentioned Razvan Ungureanu, Airtel Africa’s Chief Know-how Officer. “This may allow us to supply larger capability and high-speed connectivity to effectively deal with webscale visitors.”
Samer Lutfi, Nokia’s Head of Development Group for Community Infrastructure in Center East & Africa, added, “We’re proud to accomplice with Airtel Africa Telesonic on this formidable challenge… Our superior DWDM expertise, with its excessive capability and reliability, is constructed to assist enterprises succeed of their mission to spark digital transformation and financial progress within the area.”
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