Japanese telco KDDI and wireless LAN provider Wire and Wireless Co. are to begin offering consumers global Wifi data roaming services through Wifi roaming company iPass’ mobile network. The deal will allow the two companies' subscribers to enjoy Wifi access across Japan and in over 100 overseas countries in North America, Asia and Europe.
GBI has announced the integration of its cable system as the core link between Vodafone Qatar and other international networks. Vodafone has plans to launch a terrestrial network link in Qatar later this year, and the development with GBI is described as a “necessary precursor” for that to happen. A fully operational landing station for the cable has been established in Dayyan, just North of Doha. GBI operates as the highest capacity cable system in the Middle East, and already has a global integration partnership with Vodafone for both voice and data services.
US data centre provider InfoRelay has selected French transport vendor Ekinops to interconnect its facilities in the Washington DC area. InfoRelay will utilise the Ekinops 360 optical transport platform to interconnect its four data centres in Northern Virginia, including the Dulles Exchange in Herndon which was inaugurated this week. The Ekinops solution was chosen after a two month trial and will provide transport for Gigabit Ethernet, fibre channel and 10G LAN services over a high-capacity fibre-optic infrastructure.
China Telecom is to deploy an IP network to meet growing demand for high-speed video and data services in the country. Telecoms vendor Alcatel-Lucent has secured the contract for the network through its local subsidiary Shanghai Bell. The company said that the deployment will enable China Telecom to deploy 100Gbps Ethernet technology in a future upgrade. The announcement comes as the carrier is engaged in a large-scale FTTH deployment as part of the Chinese government’s Broadband China programme, which aims to provide high-speed broadband to 250 million households in urban and rural locations by 2015.
Inteliquent has announced a strategic Ethernet alliance with Filipino telco Globe Telecom. The company will utilise Inteliquent’s EtherCloud solution to increase its Ethernet coverage around the world, while Inteliquent will enhance its local Ethernet presence in the Philippines. Globe business head, Jesus Romero, said that the alliance will extend the delivery of Ethernet services to meet the needs of the company’s enterprise clients.
US fibre provider Sidera Networks has entered into a collaboration agreement with Sabey Data Centers to provide connectivity between Sabey’s sites in New York, Ashburn and Seattle. The first stage of the project will see Sidera offer connectivity in Sabey’s new Intergate Manhatten data centre at 375 Pearl Street. Sidera’s present Client Heiden said that the company’s low latency network extension to Seattle will, when completed, allow the company to connect Sabey’s customers in Seattle directly to thousands of locations in the US and abroad.
Dutch carrier KPN has selected Chinese equipment vendor Huawei to deploy its converged business support system replacing KPN’s multiple legacy IT BSS systems for retail and wholesale markets in the Netherlands. The selection follows a relationship Huawei initiated with KPN subsidiary Telfort to replace its legacy BSS system and a more recent partnership to replace the BSS system for consumer and wholesale markets at KPN’s German operator E-Plus.
Mauritian telecoms operator Bharat Telecom is reportedly planning to connect every home and office on the island. African news site Balancing Act reports that Bharat is investing $50 million to create a 2900km fibre network to cover Mauritius, with 200km of the 10Gbps network underground and 2,700km slung on poles of the island’s Central Electricity Board. The first phase of the deployment aims to cover 70% of the population with the remaining 30% to follow after. One of Bharat’s directors Baljinder Sharam is quoted as saying that he want to “disrupt the whole market” with a target of 50,000 subscribers. A pilot of the service will be demonstrated at test sites in Quatres Brones and Ros Hill with broadband speeds of 100Mbps and IPTV through a GPON network.
Jasco Congo, the local subsidiary of Jasco Networks, has signed a partnership with Warid Telecom’s Congo subsidiary to manage and maintain a carrier neutral co-location data centre in Congo-Brazzaville. The companies will share the revenues generated by the data centre with a service partnership allowing Jasco to use Warid’s existing infrastructure and take over operational costs and maintenance of the data centre. Jasco will also be hosting local telecoms operators, providing carrier neutral switching for international traffic.
Qatari incumbent Qtel has made an offer to take full ownership of Kuwaiti operator National Mobile Telecommunications Company (NMTC). The 47.5% stake is estimated to be worth $1.9 billion based on the company’s market value. NMTC, which operates under the Wataniya brand, is already 52.5% owned by Qtel and has operations in countries including Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. Shares in the company have been suspended while Kuwait’s regulator considers the proposal.
Middle Eastern telco Omantel has said that it will launch LTE services in the next few days, with the SQU campus to be one of the first areas to be offered access to the service. Omantel also announced this week that it had signed an agreement with Etisalat to enhance connectivity for corporate customers between the UAE and Oman. As a result of the partnership the two companies will install Etisalat’s Global MPLS node in Oman, which will enable Etisalat customers to connect their offices on its backbone between UAE and Oman networks.
US telco Sprint has announced that it will launch LTE services in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio on July 15. The launches are part of Sprint’s 3G and 4G network roll-out programme and will be followed by more to be announced later this year. By the end of 2013, Sprint hopes to have largely completed the rollout of the network, covering 250 million people across the US. Advantages of the network will include better signal strength, fewer dropped calls, faster data speeds and expanded coverage, according to the company.
Caribbean operator Digicel has launched HSPA+ services in Jamaica. The company’s HSPA+ network was funded by an investment of over $1 billion and is marketed as the country’s only island wide 4G mobile network, covering 80% of the population. Digicel’s Jamaican HSPA+ launch is behind rival Cable & Wireless Communications’ LIME which began offering services in March this year but with coverage limited to business and residential areas.
