wiredinUSA March 2013

INDEX

Cable faults cause Internet blackout

Rooftop PV

FTTH, but copper still in play

Iraq’s cable project

Tanzania experienced almost a day of Internet failure after two submarine cables experienced technical problems. In an interview with the Daily News, the acting CEO of the Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL), Dr Kamugisha Kazaura, said the problems occurred at Alexandria where the cables are connected to others linking the continent to Europe. “Our two submarine cables Easy and Seacom are connected to other cables to Europe. The problem occurred in a stretch of eight kilometers offshore of...Alexandria. Easywas the first toexperience theproblem at about 1.30pm and it was followed by Seacom an hour later,” Dr Kamugisha said in a telephone interview. While most East African countries were affected by the Internet breakdown, Kenya was least affected as it uses the Teams cable, according to Dr Kamugisha. With a capacity of 1.2Gb per second, the submarine cables are almost 20 times faster than satellite connections.

Israel’s Internet provider, Bezeq, has begun work on a fiber optic network in Ness Ziona, Ramat Hasharon, and Modi'in, and expects to have the cities fully wired within a few months. Although Bezeq has announced its intention to accelerate the replacement of its copper wire network with fiber optics, it will not yet provide fiber optic telecommunications services pending a decision on the technology. It is therefore laying the cables, but will postpone the installation of smart boxes at its centers and customers to a later date. Bezeq’s FTTH project is intended to meet customers’ growing demand for high speed Internet. Bezeq plans to replace its entire copper wire network within eight years, to provide most customers with an unlimited high speed Internet connection.

Iraq

Business

has

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A subsidiary of China Gogreen Assets Investment Ltd has entered into an agreement with the government of Xuchang to build 60MW of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in the city. The plants will demand an investment of $115 million, funded by China GoGreen with internal resources and subsidies through the nation’s Golden Sun program. Subsidiary Beijing Jun Yang Investment Company Ltd plans to build the plants in phases, with the first 30MW of PV plants to be completed in July 2014, and the entire project completed in December 2015. A subsidiary of Beijing Jun Yang will provide operations and maintenance services. The Xuchang government will assist Beijing Jun Yang with the necessary approvals, as well as applying to become a Golden Sun demonstration project and coordinating the sale of electricity.

announcement communications the completion of a submarine cable project. The two-year, $36m project to link Iraq with other countries was completed by Gulf Bridge International (GBI), and is planned to provide Internet, telephone and television services at lower prices and with higher quality, the ministry statement said. by the Iraqi ministry of

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - March 2013

wiredInUSA - March 2013

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