Internet

Africa's first 5G MVNO service has launched, expanding coverage to over 370 locations and introducing new unlimited home broadband plans for enhanced connectivity. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

5G in Africa is rapidly expanding, enhancing internet speeds, boosting connectivity, and driving innovation across industries, from urban centers to remote areas

Equitel, the mobile virtual network operator from Finserve, has launched its advanced 5G network in partnership with Airtel, becoming the first MVNO in Africa to offer 5G services. Building on the success of its previous 4G network, this new 5G service promises incredibly fast and reliable connectivity, enhancing the digital experience for businesses, communities, and individuals.

The 5G network is available in over 370 locations nationwide, including major towns such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Kisumu, with plans to extend to high-density areas like residential neighborhoods and shopping centers. Equitel, known for its leadership in mobile banking in Kenya, continues to offer exceptional convenience and affordability. Customers benefit from free Equitel-to-Equitel money transfers and can make payments at over 1 million merchants nationwide at no extra cost through the One Equity Till Number.

What are Airtel's new 5G plans?

Airtel Kenya has introduced new Unlimited Home Broadband 5G Data Plans, designed to deliver uninterrupted and reliable data service on their expanded 5G network. These plans cater to both residential and commercial users, providing a transformative digital connectivity experience. Since the mid of last year, Airtel has grown its 5G network from 372 sites across 16 counties and 180 wards to over 690 sites in 39 counties and 285 wards.

For additional details, check out our latest summer issue here

Angola Cables Network traffic climbs to record peak. (Image source: Angola Cables)

The increase in digital content consumption, the rapid expansion of cloud computing services, and the ever-growing demand for high-speed, low-latency connectivity are among the key factors contributing to the record levels of traffic now being recorded across the Angola Cables network

“This milestone underscores Angola Cables’ growing responsibility and responsiveness to customer needs in West African markets, with an emphasis on improved Service Level Agreements (SLA). Our status as a reliable operator, fostering strong relationships with both local and international customers, is a testament to our resilience, commitment to good connectivity, security, and product diversity. In the long term, this reinforces the TelCables Nigeria brand, strengthening its position as a trusted name in the market,” said Fernando Fernandes, CEO for TelCables Nigeria (the local operation for Nigeria and West Africa countries of Angola Cables).

Angola Cables' traffic surge

Rui Faria, executive board member and chief commercial officer for Angola Cables, a global provider of network services and digital solutions, stated that many hyperscalers, content providers, and other carriers have been using the South Atlantic configuration of the SACS, Monet, and WACS cables as a convenient redundancy option to connect to destinations in the USA, the UK, and Europe using EllaLink. “The recent cable faults experienced in parts of Africa and the Red Sea have resulted in large volumes of traffic being diverted to other cables. But apart from this, we have seen a steady and significant growth in overall traffic over our backbone network.”

“At present, the Angola Cables fibre network point is accounting for more than 70% of the internet and data traffic flows to and from Africa,” notes Faria, “hyperscalers, streaming, and gaming networks are using SACS as well as the Angola Cables’ backbone and its partner networks to connect to Europe and Asia at lower latencies.”

Angola Cables has also reported a substantial increase in traffic volumes over the Monet Cable, which connects the USA to South America, now accounting for over 20% of the data traffic between North and South America. “With the option to connect to the main centres in Europe via the EllaLink subsea cable and reduced latencies of around 30%, many companies are seeing this as an attractive option for their peering and IP Transit requirements.”

According to the Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), Angola Cables AS 37468 is now ranked 24th in their official global rankings, making it the only African network operator in the top 50. The CAIDA rankings are determined by the ‘cone size’ or number of connections linked to its registered Autonomous System Number (ASN), and they highlight the number of direct and indirect customers or links inferred from observed BGP paths. Today, Angola Cables' capacity spans more than 80,000 km of subsea cable network, with multiple links to a growing number of data centres and global IXPs.

Faria maintains that the increase in traffic is strengthening Angola Cables’ position in both the global and African markets as a consistently reliable network service provider, enabling the company to expand its services and invest in new technologies and strategic partnerships to better serve its customers."

OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa, a 2MW open-access, Tier-III data centre, boosts DRC's digital ecosystem with carrier-neutral, sustainable infrastructure. (Image source: Open Access Data Centres)

The first phase of OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa, a collaboration between Open Access Data Centres (OADC) and TEXAF, has officially launched

This facility is poised to create a dynamic digital ecosystem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), supporting Internet Exchanges, content providers, cloud operators, carriers, telecommunications companies, and ISPs. It aims to offer a broad spectrum of digital products and services to both businesses and households.

This 2MW-capable facility is the DRC's first live, open-access, carrier-neutral data centre, certified by the Uptime Institute as Tier-III. ISO27001 post-live certification is expected by Q3 2024. Clients are already moving into the facility, and all major fibre network providers are present, ensuring robust interconnectivity for tenants. The data centre provides essential digital infrastructure, offering customised colocation services along with diverse connectivity and peering options. Powered by hydroelectricity, the facility emphasizes sustainable energy use and boasts a low Power Utilisation Effectiveness (PUE). It is accelerating the DRC's digital transformation by enabling clients to expand their operations efficiently, flexibly, and securely.

Digital connectivity hub

Kinshasa, with a population exceeding 16 million, is the hub of demand for digital connectivity services in the DRC and the surrounding region. The OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa facility, situated within TEXAF's SILIKIN VILLAGE digital hub, is operated by OADC, Africa's fastest-growing data centre company and part of the award-winning WIOCC Group. The facility features 1,500 sq m of IT white space, capable of accommodating over 550 racks, and offers colocation, interconnect, and peering services to meet the needs of enterprises, content distribution networks, and cloud providers. This setup enables clients to enhance efficiency, accelerate digital initiatives, and better serve their customers and businesses.

The infrastructure's design, including its white space architecture and interconnect and peering ecosystem, is perfectly suited for large international content distribution networks, global content companies, and cloud providers looking to invest in the DRC.

Mohammed Bouhelal, managing director of OADC Texaf DRC, emphasised, “OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa is central to boosting many sectors of the DRC’s economy, creating rich and vibrant digital ecosystems, and providing content distribution networks and cloud content providers with access to a quality peering location in the country.”

He also noted, “We already have over 12 leading national and international carriers connected, with the banking sector being the leading adopter of OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa solutions. The open-access, carrier-neutral facility is set to transform the country’s digital infrastructure by creating a comprehensive, vibrant interconnection and peering ecosystem involving multiple carriers, ISPs, content providers and Internet Exchanges.”

The facility embodies carrier-neutrality, maximising interconnection opportunities for all clients. Increased competition and improved operator cost efficiencies are anticipated to lower internet connectivity costs for both individuals and businesses in the DRC, thus supporting the expansion of the country's digital ecosystem. This facility offers businesses an attractive alternative to self-built and self-managed data centre facilities, providing the benefits of dedicated resources, expertise, management, and cost-efficiency. Carriers will also gain, as OADC Texaf Digital - Kinshasa provides new revenue opportunities through connectivity and allows them to extend their service offerings to include managed colocation services.

OADC and TEXAF's partnership in establishing this crucial infrastructure is a key component of the DRC's digital transformation. This initiative aligns with TEXAF's strategy to attract leading international players like OADC into the country, particularly within the new SILIKIN VILLAGE digital hub.

Christophe Evers, chairman of OADC Texaf’s board of directors, stated, “Establishing a strategic partnership to build a data centre in the DRC is crucial for driving digital transformation and economic growth in the region. By leveraging the joint strengths and expertise of OADC and TEXAF, we are not only enhancing digital connectivity and infrastructure but also creating opportunities for businesses to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. This collaboration underscores our commitment to delivering world-class data centre services that meet the growing demands of enterprises and support the broader objectives of economic development in the DRC. It is a cornerstone of the DRC’s National Digital Plan announced by the President of the Republic.”

HS Towers and MTN Group extend Nigerian tower leases to 2032, addressing governance issues and securing their partnership for a decade. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Following last week's announcement that IHS Holding Limited and MTN Group have renewed and extended their communications infrastructure agreements in Nigeria

The companies revealed that they will now address previously raised governance issues constructively, with their commercial relationship solidified for the next decade.

On August 7, 2024, IHS Towers and MTN Group agreed to extend their Master Lease Agreements for Nigerian towers through December 2032. The renewed contracts feature revised financial terms aimed at achieving a more balanced split between local and foreign currencies. This renewal completes the extension of approximately 26,000 MTN tenancies on IHS Towers’ infrastructure across six African countries: Nigeria, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Zambia, and South Africa.

Sustainable network investment focus

MTN Group holds around 26% of IHS Towers, a stake established before the tower company's listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.

MTN Group president and CEO Ralph Mupita said, “The renewal of the various contracts across our markets into the next decade put MTN operations in the respective markets onto a more sustainable footing. We remain focused on ensuring our networks are well invested, have high availability and have the headroom to meet the growing and structural demand for data going into the future. These renewals are key to those priorities. We look forward to working constructively with IHS on the outstanding governance issues now that commercial arrangements have been concluded.”

Sam Darwish, chairman & CEO, IHS Towers, commented, “As our largest customer and longest serving partner, we are proud to have completed the renewal of all tenancies with MTN Group in our African markets. Today, we reinforce our strategic relationship and commit to increased operational stability, by securing our revenue streams into the next decade, and leveraging our shared innovation to deliver critical connectivity and support digital inclusion across the African continent. We are excited by the next phase of our commercial partnership and welcome the opportunity to work constructively for the benefit of the end user.” 

Building on their 20+ year relationship as commercial partners, both companies will leverage their shared operational excellence and engineering expertiseto meet the end users’ increasingly sophisticated data demands. Together, IHS Towers and MTN Group have a track record of navigating complex operating environments and challenging macroeconomic conditions to deliver connectivity crucial to economic growth and digital inclusion.