Telecom Operator in Niger Deploys Fiber Optics Network from Siemens

By Anuradha Shukla

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Sonitel, the principal telecoms operator in Niger, is using a high-speed fiber optics network from Siemens (News - Alert) Networks.

The network links Niger to the SAT3 undersea cable off the coasts of West Africa connecting Spain to South Africa. The high-speed fiber optics from Siemens is expected to put the country among the major telecommunications players in the region.

According to a press release, a section of the network was reportedly inaugurated in the capital Niamey where the project comprises a fiber-optic loop in the Niamey area with links to Burkina Faso and Benin and further to the SAT3 undersea cable. The project also has a fiber-optic high-capacity access loop, also in Niamey.



Siemens installed a fiber-optic backbone in the first phase of the project as part of an international link between Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso and to connect further regions to the national network.

A high-capacity access backbone will be installed in the second phase consisting of a central fiber-optic loop and several client loops for more than 100 major Sonitel customers.

The customers will use the network for voice as well as data transfer from their branch offices.

Siemens is responsible for supplying and installing the entire infrastructure here, including the passive elements such as the optical cables, the active elements such as communication systems for enterprises and a TNMS-M network management system.

Niger is in need of operational communications infrastructures, as a spur to its social and economic development. Sonitel is currently updating its telephony network to improve substantially the quality of its offer and believes to have found a reliable partner in Siemens to make its projects a success.

In 2005, Siemens digitized the DOMSAT (Domestic Satellite) satellite backbone operated by Sonitel. DOMSAT connects Sonitel’s fixed telephony network and the SahelCom mobile network with the capital Niamey.

The current project between Siemens Networks and Sonitel will put Niger among the major telecommunications players in the region of West Africa. In addition to link the country with the world for social, economic and cultural purposes, the project will facilitate internal and international communications for the local business community.

Siemens Networks was recently in news for partnering with Digita, the Finnish broadcasting network operator to deliver, install and maintain a national FLASH-OFDM mobile net-work.

Under the agreement, the new broadband network will be put into operation in April 2007 initially in Lapland and the more densely populated regions of the country’s south.

Helsinki-based Digita is investing in the new FLASH-OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) network to offer broadband services throughout Finland over a mobile network.

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Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering call centers, CRM and information technology. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.