Benguela - Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are connected via fiber optics, as part of the transfer of management of the Lobito Corridor, for 30 years, to the management consortium.
This was during the inauguration of the connection held in Lobito, coastal Benguela province, by video call on Tuesday (4).
The connection was handled by the Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication, Mário Oliveira, who briefed with his counterparts of Zambia and DR Congo.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by the Heads of State of Angola João Lourenço, Zambia Hakainde Hichilema and of RD Congo Félix Tshisekedi.
The three Statesmen have been in Lobito to witness the transfer of the concession of rail and logistics services to support the Corridor from Lobito to the Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium.
Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium is made up of Trafigura, Vecturis and Mota Engil companies, the winner of the international tender on November 4, 2022.
The terrestrial fiber connection with the DRC is provided by the operators Angola Telecom and Liquid DRC, through two point-to-point circuits, connecting Luanda and Kinshasa, over a length of 1,150 kilometers with a capacity of 40Gbps, and between Luanda and Cabinda (via the commune of Noqui - province of Zaire).
This allows access to voice and data services to national and foreign users.
The expansion plan for the terrestrial fiber optic network plans to reach optical channels of up to 100Gbps each.
The connection between Angola and Zambia is ensured by the operators Unitel and MTN, in a point-to-point connection with the border of Zambia, in the Karipande area (Moxico) to the PoP station of the company Angola Cables in Luanda, with a length of approximately 2,000 km.
The network is a DWDM system with 10Gbps optical (OCh) channels.
The completion of these connections is a historic moment for the three countries, in particular for the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The process allows the countries bordering Zambia and the DRC to have regular access to communications and electronic service via Angola. AFL/CRB/AL/ADR/NIC
