wiredinUSA January 2015

Saudi fiber expansion

Tajikistan power support

Mobily has completed the fiber optic network coverage of over a hundred residential quarters in more than 20 Saudi Arabian cities. In a statement, the company said that Jazan, Onaizah and Al-Hofuf are among prominent cities that were covered by fiber optic network during the last phase. Mobily’s continued expansion of its fiber optic network is to cover cover most cities and provinces in the Kingdom. Nasser Al-Nasser, chief operation officer, said: “Mobily is in a race with time for the deployment of fiber optic network in all regions of the Kingdom. Mobily is moving ahead with important steps that [will] lead to the implementation of its objectives [to] preserve the sustainable development to achieve the maximum benefit from fiber optic services.”

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $54 million grant to improve the electricity supply to households and industry in Tajikistan. The ADB Tajikistan resident mission (TJRM) has said that the project aims to reduce energy losses through metering the entire high and medium voltage transmission grid and to expand transmission capacity in Sughd province. “Investments in loss reduction are a priority for the energy sector,” said Levan Mtchedlishvili, senior energy specialist at ADB’s central and west Asia department. “And this project will enable Barqi Tojik to account for all electricity flows and associated costs. It will quantify technical and non-technical losses at the wholesale level of the entire grid.” The project will install around 1,100 wholesale electricity meters, as well as current and voltage transformers and a settlement system. It will also build a 95km transmission line connecting Roudaki and Ayni substations. The Government of Tajikistan and Barqi Tojik will provide counterpart funding of $13 million. Barqi Tojik will be the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion in 2020.

wiredInUSA - January 2015

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