MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile operator, is spending $320 million on domestic fiber optic cables to connect 10 countries as telcos scramble to expand service to the continent’s growing population.
The Johannesburg-based company, through its MTN GlobalConnect entity and infrastructure investment agency African50, will begin construction of the east-west link in the fourth quarter, MTN said in a statement.
The project will add about 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles) of new cable and connect more than 100,000 kilometers of fiber optics.
For MTN, the deal follows the latest project to build an undersea cable that landed in Cape Town, South Africa late last year, as part of efforts to connect African countries to Europe and the Middle East.
Undersea cables are bringing high-speed broadband to coastal cities, but inland cables are needed to further connect landlocked countries. African mobile operators are increasing their infrastructure investments to monetize the services offered on their networks. MTN is in the process of spinning off its wholesale infrastructure company, GlobalConnect, to be renamed Bayobab, with plans to deploy 135,000 kilometers of fiber and generate up to $1 billion in revenue by 2025.
According to MTN, Africa needs at least 500,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable. Mobile operators and U.S. tech giants such as Alphabet’s Google and Metaplatforms’ Facebook have also invested heavily in efforts to better connect the continent’s rapidly growing tech-savvy youth.
The new MTN pipe will be built in three stages and will pass through countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, and Congo. Once the fiber is complete, services such as video streaming and cloud computing will be greatly accelerated, with the final stage expected to be completed in 2025.
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