Speaking on its MEA win, the 2020 judges were impressed with Sparkle’s strategic corridor between Jordan, its neighbouring countries and Europe, which provides an alternative and diversified route for Middle East-to-Europe IP and bandwidth connectivity.
At the time they said that “the initiative confirms Sparkle’s commitment to improve its presence in the region and anticipate upcoming deployments in Jordan”.
As for its Americas’ project, the judges hailed their entry as “a milestone project that is crucial to powering the digital age in Latin America”.
Adding that Sparkle’s speed to market, especially during Covid-19 times, “makes this an example of the talent that exists in this part of the world”.
Subsequent to their win in October 2020, Sparkle has continued to innovate in the regions which it operates.
November saw the company expand its network reach in Brazil with the opening of a new point of presence (PoP) in Porto Alegre. The news marked Sparkle’s 12th PoP in the country – adding to existing points in Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, Fortaleza and Salvador – and was deployed meet demand for international connectivity services across Brazil.
At the start of the year, Sparkle and TIM Brasil implemented a customised solution by Vox Technologies to protect the Application to Person (A2P) SMS network from fraudulent routing and illicit bypass attempts.
Thanks to the collaboration between the two TIM Group companies, TIM Brasil’s A2P SMS network is protected and monitored by Sparkle through Vox Technologies’ VOX360 anti-fraud platform using "sophisticated data analytics, business intelligence and AI technologies to mitigate and prevent fraudulent activities".
In keeping with the mobile-based news, February saw Sparkle selected by the European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency (GSA) to deliver voice services to its offices in France, Netherlands and Spain.
Specifically, Sparkle will provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) services and related dial-in numbers to the aforementioned GSA offices.
That same month, the company was also selected by Vero Internet, an emerging internet service provider in Brazil, to provide high-speed international connectivity.
Jump forward to April 2021, and Sparkle improved the coverage of its Virtual NAP service by offering access to DE-CIX locations in the US.
Through this extended agreement with DE-CIX, Sparkle will offer access to the DE-CIX sites in New York and Dallas, joining the existing European DE-CIX Internet Exchanges already connected to Sparkle’s Virtual NAP.
More recently, Sparkle CEO Elisabetta Romano announced the expansion of its Nibble network to northern Europe. Overall extending Nibble by a further 6,300km to northern Europe, interconnecting London, Amsterdam and Brussels, bringing it to a total length of 12,800km.
And only last month, the company launched Albania Crossing, a new direct route connecting Athens to Milan.
Built in partnership with Albtelecom, the incumbent telco in Albania, Albania Crossing is already operational and crosses Albania, the Bari-Durres subsea cable and the Italian backbone.
To nominate your company and projects for the 2021 Global Carrier Awards, click here
