Business / Companies
Econet's Liquid Telecoms becomes Africa's largest fibre optic network operator
29 Jan 2013 at 05:30hrs | Views
Liquid Telecom has become Africa's largest operator of terrestrial cross-border fibre optic networks after acquiring all the East Africa businesses of South African technology giant Altech.
In a statement issued by Altech on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, the technology group announced that it had offloaded its East African businesses to Liquid Telecom in exchange for an 8.6% stake in Liquid Telecom.
According to the Altech statement, Liquid Telecom is a specialist operator of fibre optic networks in Africa, and already operates an extensive network in Southern and Central Africa, providing a broad range of services to telecoms operators, large corporations, banks, and Internet service providers.
The deal allows Liquid to extend its footprint into Eastern Africa by adding Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Liquid also operates an extensive satellite based network across Africa, providing connectivity to remote businesses. It was named Africa's top Wholesale Carrier in 2012 by industry magazine Capacity Magazine.
With more and more undersea cables reaching the African coastline, Liquid has positioned itself over the last few years as the builder of a network to connect the hinterland of the continent connecting many landlocked countries, such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, and the DRC, often laying thousands of kilometers of fibre along highways and also on power lines.
It works mostly with contractors from China. Major telecoms operators on the continent have often preferred to outsource their requirements to this highly specialized operator rather than build their own.
Liquid Telecom is a member of the Econet Wireless Global group of companies. It was started by Econet Wireless founder Strive Masiyiwa in 1997 as a satellite communications provider. It operates out of Mauritius, London and Johannesburg, and has offices in more than 15 African countries.
In a statement issued by Altech on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, the technology group announced that it had offloaded its East African businesses to Liquid Telecom in exchange for an 8.6% stake in Liquid Telecom.
According to the Altech statement, Liquid Telecom is a specialist operator of fibre optic networks in Africa, and already operates an extensive network in Southern and Central Africa, providing a broad range of services to telecoms operators, large corporations, banks, and Internet service providers.
The deal allows Liquid to extend its footprint into Eastern Africa by adding Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Liquid also operates an extensive satellite based network across Africa, providing connectivity to remote businesses. It was named Africa's top Wholesale Carrier in 2012 by industry magazine Capacity Magazine.
With more and more undersea cables reaching the African coastline, Liquid has positioned itself over the last few years as the builder of a network to connect the hinterland of the continent connecting many landlocked countries, such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, and the DRC, often laying thousands of kilometers of fibre along highways and also on power lines.
It works mostly with contractors from China. Major telecoms operators on the continent have often preferred to outsource their requirements to this highly specialized operator rather than build their own.
Liquid Telecom is a member of the Econet Wireless Global group of companies. It was started by Econet Wireless founder Strive Masiyiwa in 1997 as a satellite communications provider. It operates out of Mauritius, London and Johannesburg, and has offices in more than 15 African countries.
Source - Byo24News
