Bharti builds rural network

Bharti Airtel aims to empower rural communities with affordable telecommunications services, reports Africa News.

The Indian telecoms company, which now holds a controlling stake in Zain Nigeria, says it will build a rural network for Nigeria and provide high quality service at low cost for that sector.

Manoj Kohli, Bharti Airtel Africa CEO, says Bharti will aim to increase the tele-density from the present 20% to 50% in the next six years, saying that “Africa is the growth market and Nigeria is the Jewel of Africa”.

The East African Submarine System (Eassy) has been switched on, providing high-speed Internet and mobile phone data services in 20 African nations, states Business Week.

Alcatel-Lucent signed a contract in 2007 with Eassy, to lay a 10 000 kilometre submarine cable along Africa's east coast that transfers data at 1.4Tbps.

The project will officially be handed over to West Indian Ocean Cable this week. It also provides a backup system for international connectivity on the east coast of Africa.

Cisco has unveiled its telepresence solution in Tunisia, which enables people from different cities to meet virtually via Cisco's network, says Zawya.

For businesses in North Africa, Cisco telepresence technology will bridge geographical divides, by enabling highly secure virtual meetings with multiple locations inside or outside the corporate firewall.

Anthony Vonsee, MD for Cisco North Africa Levant, says: "The deployment of Cisco telepresence technology can now be increased significantly throughout the sub-Saharan African region with the arrival of submarine cables, which now offer high bandwidth at attractive prices.”