Liquid Telecom network, expected to be the largest fibre link in southern Africa, has gone live in Zambia and is providing much-needed broadband connectivity to mobile operators, Internet service providers (ISPs) and banks.
The company said phase two of its network has already been completed and is expected to go live by the end of this year, when it will connect many other major Zambian towns.
Liquid Telecom, headquartered in Mauritius, is building the largest and most expensive network in southern Africa, which will provide backhaul between most urban areas and last mile connectivity in Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and SA. The network will be directly connected to undersea cables including the West Africa Cable System (WACS), the East African Submarine Cable System (Eassy) and SAT-3.
In Zambia, the fibre link is expected to connect the capital, Lusaka, the Copperbelt, Chirundu, Chingola and Chililabombwe, among other towns.
Liquid Telecom entered the Zambian market this year through a joint venture with the Copperbelt Energy Corp. (CEC) to form CEC Liquid Telecom to provide virtually unlimited broadband capacity to Zambia. CEC is a privately owned company that provides electricity to mines in bulk. It also owns and operates fibre-optic networks in major towns in the country.
The CEC Liquid Telecom fibre link is already increasing competition in Zambia's broadband market and is also significantly reducing broadband prices. The fibre link is the first fully redundant link in the country.
Each partner has an equal stake in the $30 million joint venture, which has been incorporated in Zambia.
Chishala Kateka, MD of Zambia ISP Zamnet Communication, said: “The investment provides an additional choice to enable operators to provide exceptional and affordable services to end-users, who now expect much faster and more reliable connections.”
The Zambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) unconditionally authorised the formation of the joint venture between CEC and Liquid Telecom on the belief that the joint venture will provide services on a high capacity fibre-optic network. According to CCPC spokesman Brian Lingela, CEC has 40% market share in the fibre-optic space, adding the Commission believes CEC would not abuse its dominance by engaging in any anti-competitive conduct.
Liquid Telecom is a data, voice and IP provider, supplying wholesale fibre-optic, satellite and international carrier services to operators in developing countries.
The company provides high capacity fibre-optic technology and plans to invest in a 4 000km ring fibre network in Central Africa. It owns and operators one of the largest regional fibre-optic networks in southern Africa, connecting and providing services in Botswana, SA, Kenya, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, as well as the UK.
Liquid Telecom is also expanding its regional network, incorporating a number of metro networks in major cities in the region.
In addition, CEC Liquid Telecom is setting up a data centre in Zambia for hosting servers, routers and the equipment of public and private operators.
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