Airtel enters fibre deal with Liquid Telecom

Bharti Airtel’s mobile broadband subscribers in Africa will soon enjoy faster Internet access speeds on its networks. This follows an announcement that Airtel will use Liquid Telecom’s terrestrial fibre network to connect its mobile base stations and enterprises.

The framework agreement enables Airtel operations to leverage Liquid Telecom’s existing 20,000km-long fibre network across East, Central and Southern Africa, as well as enjoy new purpose-built fibre infrastructure, to connect Airtel’s mobile base stations and enterprise customers with fibre.

According to Liquid Telecom, the agreement answers the need for mobile operators to increase the Internet speed delivered over their mobile broadband networks.

Liquid Telecom Group CEO Nic Rudnick said, “Mobile operators are relying on Internet access and data services to grow their revenues.”

Airtel Africa CEO Christian de Faria, said the agreement is a milestone in providing fast broadband services to customers in a cost-effective way.

“Airtel has invested significantly in mobile broadband technology across its African footprint and this agreement will deliver end-to-end fibre connectivity to our 3G and 4G base stations,” he said.