Angola Cables, Uniti partnership to benefit African enterprises

Angola Cables, a provider of subsea cable and international connectivity solutions, last month signed a key agreement with Uniti Wholesale which will see Africa directly connecting with the American market, benefiting data-heavy sectors such as agriculture, fintech and logistics.

This recent development is expected to see multi-gigabyte international connections, high-bandwidth wave services, IP transit, local access, dark fiber and colocation, covering Africa, Asia, Europe, as well as North and South America.

The partnership will result in the integration of Angola Cables’ submarine infrastructure across the West Africa Cable System (WACS), South Atlantic Cable System (SACS), and MONET submarine cable with Uniti’s US terrestrial fiber network which covers over 386,000km.

In addition, enterprises in landlocked countries, particularly in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, are expected to benefit from low wholesale pricing as a result of limited transit IP expenses and alternate network routing.

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Importance of Angola Cables and Uniti Wholesale’s partnership 

Less than 40% of the African population uses the Internet with sub-Saharan Africa’s fixed broadband subscribers averaging only one per 100 people.

Although much of the continent is moving towards fiber‑to‑the‑home (FTTH), asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services are still being used but often results in high latency.

Poor Internet connections have largely been attributed to limited investment in IT infrastructure and few Internet service providers (ISPs), particularly fiber providers.

Angola Cables subsea infrastructure and partner networks account for more than 70% of the Internet and data traffic flows to and from Africa and the deal with Uniti adds additional international links in and out of the US market.

According to Angola Cables CEO Ângelo Gama, this new development will aid in establishing stable and secure digital connectivity particularly in sectors such as transport and logistics, healthcare as well as mining.

“Secure, multi-gigabyte international connections are currently vital for companies expanding into overseas markets or needing to connect their international networks and operations, as they aid in having a continuous end-to-end data-pathway and reducing reliance on third-party providers,” said Gama.

In addition, Samuel Carvalho, chief marketing officer and head of global solutions design at Angola Cables, said the solution lies in a strategy of regional adaptability and infrastructure resilience.

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“By leveraging distributed, sovereign-compliant infrastructure, companies can tailor their operations to local regulations while maintaining global connectivity,” said Carvalho

In addition, Carvalho said the approach involves connecting to localized data centers, adopting and adapting hybrid cloud models, and engaging in strategic partnerships with local operators as well as service providers who understand the regional regulatory frameworks. 

“These efforts ensure sensitive data remains within jurisdictional boundaries while less critical operations utilize hyper-connected global clouds,” added Carvalho.

Africa’s fiber future 

Although Africa is still lagging when it comes to high speed Internet, every sector now has a digital element embedded in it.

This is increasingly resulting in efficiency and maximized production output as well as ease in doing business within the continent.

According to ISP Savanna Fibre, Africa is emerging as one of the most exciting regions in the world for technological advancements.

“The introduction of fiber optic technology is the next major milestone in Africa’s Internet evolution. Fiber optic Internet is faster, more stable and covers greater distances without losing signal quality,” said Savanna Fibre.

Related:Angola Cables, Orange ink infrastructure network deal

In addition, the company believes that fiber infrastructure is the key to unlocking Africa’s potential in the digital era.

“With its unmatched speed, reliability and ability to support the digital economy fiber optics is set to revolutionize Internet connectivity across the continent,” added Savanna Fibre.

In addition, digital infrastructure and connectivity expert Eric Muhanda said Africa’s digital transformation has been significantly bolstered by the expansion of both terrestrial and submarine networks.

“Over the past decade, Africa has seen substantial investments in terrestrial fiber networks. For instance, Liquid Intelligent Technologies has developed a vast network spanning over 110,000km, connecting major cities and rural areas, ensuring that more people have access to high-speed Internet,” said Muhanda.

Muhanda said Africa’s submarine cable capacity has seen remarkable growth with the deployment of new cables such as PEACE, 2Africa, DARE1, and Equiano.

However, Muhanda noted that while Africa now boasts of substantial submarine capacity, the challenge lies in effectively distributing this capacity inland.

“Expanding terrestrial fiber networks is crucial to ensure that the benefits of these submarine cables reach all parts of the continent, which is also crucial in addressing regulatory, logistical, and financial challenges,” Muhanda explained.

Furthermore, he said the synergy between terrestrial and submarine networks is vital for Africa’s digital future. 

“As more submarine cables come online, the focus must shift to enhancing terrestrial infrastructure to bridge the digital divide and ensure that high-speed Internet is accessible to all Africans,” Muhanda added.