According to media reports, Liquid Intelligent Technologies has partnered with Nokia to deploy the technology vendor’s transport network technology in the new terrestrial fibre route connecting Kenya and South Africa.
Nokia said its transport technology enabled Liquid to build its first terrestrial route, providing 12 terabits of capacity for carriers and service providers in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the DRC.
As part of the agreement, Nokia is deploying 145 nodes of 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) in seven countries with a total design capacity of up to 12 Terabits per second.
The operator notes that once launched, the new, advanced optical transport backbone will enable Liquid Intelligent Technologies to address the growing demand for capacity and deliver submarine traffic to landlocked countries at an affordable cost.
The route is expected to provide the continent, especially landlocked regions, with more resilient connectivity and access to numerous data centres and cloud resources. It could also be a viable alternative in a subsea cable outage between the two countries.
Speaking on the agreement, Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of Central East and West Africa (CEWA) Market Unit at Nokia, said, “Nokia’s next-generation optical network will enable Liquid Intelligent Technologies to maintain its leadership position and emerge as a preferred partner of organisations requiring massive capacity. We are delighted that our technology and expertise will help Liquid Intelligent Technologies provide the best-in-class digital infrastructure to Africa’s enterprises and will play a role in strengthening the digital infrastructure of the continent”.
Also commenting, Shahzad Manzoor Khan, Group Chief Technology Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, said, “Internet giants, established cloud service providers and other mega-organisations are demanding hyperscale datacentres that can support high levels of performance, spikes in demand, and redundancy while enabling massive availability. Our new terrestrial fibre corridor is the first of its kind in Africa regarding distance and capacity”.
Hardy Pemhiwa, Group President and CEO of Cassava Technologies, added, “We are proud to partner with Nokia as we expand our high-speed fibre backbone on the continent. This investment further demonstrates our commitment towards Africa’s inclusive digital transformation”.
