Wholesale and Capacity

The leading Internet Exchange (IX) in the Middle East part of datamena, has broken its peak peering traffic record on the IX in March.

The Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, the Chairman of the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) and the Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone attended a partnership signing ceremony between AOI and Benya Capital.

Satellite operator SES said it plans to meet the FCC’s accelerated timeline to clear part of the C-band spectrum in the US. The FCC wants to clear the band so that it can hold an auction for the spectrum, which will then be used for 5G. The move means SES will be entitled to receive up to USD 3.97 billion in accelerated relocation payments. 

China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC announced that they will partner to build 2Africa, which will be the most comprehensive subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East region. The parties have appointed Alcatel Submarine Networks (“ASN”) to build the cable in a fully funded project which will greatly enhance connectivity across Africa and the Middle East.

US operator CenturyLink announced that it connected around 300,000 homes and small businesses to its fiber network last year. It has plans to add another 400,000 to the network across several cities in the US. 

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top ten global operators, announces the enhancement of its American backbone boosting its Pacific routes with a new fiber pair on Curie submarine cable system connecting Chile to US.

Ukranian operator, Intertelecom, has issued an updated to its users which outlined its progress in switching from CDMA to 4G LTE technology.

Vodafone UK has reportedly increase the speed requirements of its entry-level fiber-based fixed broadband offering.

Danish Energy Agency (DEA), Energistyrelsen, has announced that it plans to hold a spectrum auction in the 450MHz frequency band on 23rd June this year.

Post & Telestyrelsen, the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency, has announced that its plans for a 5G auction featuring spectrum bands in the 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz range.