Africa Telecoms magazine names Liquid Telecom as one of its top 10 companies to watch during 2012.

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9 November 2011 – CEC Liquid Telecom today announced that phase one of its countrywide fibre network in Zambia is now live and providing much-needed broadband connectivity to mobile operators, ISPs, banks and other corporations.  Phase one is a fibre link between the capital city Lusaka and the Zambian Copperbelt. Phase 2 of the network has been completed and is expected to go live by the end of 2011 connecting the towns of Chirundu, Ndola, Kabwe, Chingola and Chililabombwe.

Liquid Telecom is building the largest and most extensive fibre network in Southern Africa which will provide backhaul between most urban areas and last mile connectivity in the main cities of a number of countries including Zambia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The network will be directly connected to the submarine cables of Seacom, SAT3, WACS and Eassy.

The CEC Liquid Telecom network will provide virtually unlimited broadband capacity within and into Zambia and is already increasing competition and reducing end-user broadband prices by more than 50% in some areas. It is also the first fully-redundant network in the country and, because CEC Liquid Telecom has end-to-end ownership of the network, it is able to provide Service Level Agreements at a level not previously experienced in Zambia.

Chishala Kateka, managing director of ISP ZAMNET, said: “This is a very welcome development for the telecommunications industry in Zambia. There is now an additional choice to enable operators such as ourselves to provide exceptional and affordable services to end-users who now expect much faster and more reliable connections”.

Created in March 2011, CEC Liquid Telecom is a joint venture between Copperbelt Energy Corporation, a Zambian power company, and Liquid Telecom.

Nic Rudnick, CEO of Liquid Telecom, said:  “We are investing heavily in the build-out of the largest and most reliable broadband network in Southern Africa.  Our fibre networks are being built to last and will provide virtually unlimited capacity for decades to come”.

CEC Liquid Telecom is also setting up a data centre in Zambia for hosting, servers, routers and the equipment of public and private operators.

Liquid Telecom will be exhibiting at the AfricaCom show in Cape Town, November 9 – 10.  Booth number C12.  Nic Rudnick will be speaking at the show on Thursday 10 November at 1620 on ‘The Role Of Wholesale Carriers In Improving Cost-Effective Connectivity To African Operators’.

About Zambia
With a population of around 13 million, the telecom market of this land-locked country is dominated by Bharti Airtel with MTN and Zamtel also providing services.  The BuddeComm analyst company estimates that mobile penetration is 47%, fixed lines 1% and internet 9%.

About Liquid Telecom
Liquid Telecom is building the largest broadband network in Southern Africa which will provide connectivity using fibre, satellites and wireless broadband.

By the end of 2011 Liquid Telecom will have laid down more than 8500km of fibre optic cable in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe and plans to build in more countries in 2012 and beyond.  This network has access to the submarine cables of East and West Africa for international connectivity.

The fibre network is supplemented by Liquid Telecom’s satellite networks that provide connectivity to 18 countries in Africa using both large and small capacity terminals for residential and commercial customers.

Liquid Telecom also provides outsourced transaction switching and point of sale solutions to major international banking groups in Africa and Europe.

Established in 2003, Liquid Telecom is a subsidiary of the Econet Wireless Group.

For more details please visit www.liquidtelecom.com or contact Liquid Telecom’s PR representative Bridget Fishleigh – bridget@telecomsprafrica.com , +44 7946 342 903, +27 21 813 6725 or skype: bridgetfishleigh

CEC Liquid Telecom will build and operate a country-wide fibre network over which it will provide wholesale capacity and terrestrial internet bandwidth to public and private operators licensed by the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA). CEC Liquid Telecom will also provide alternative international terrestrial gateways.

CEC Liquid Telecom will not participate in the retail market segment although end-users could ultimately benefit from cheaper and faster internet and other data services as significantly more capacity will be available in Zambia.

The existing telecom assets of CEC and Liquid Telecom in Zambia will be transferred to CEC Liquid Telecom, in which both companies will have 50% participating interest. CEC will transfer to CEC Liquid Telecom all existing telecoms customer contracts, its Public Network License and current fibre assets, including the last-mile fiber installed in the Copperbelt region and Lusaka, as well as those currently being built in Solwezi, Kabwe and Livingstone.

Liquid Telecom will provide working capital, network build-out, and associated equipment. Liquid Telecom is also building a carrier grade fibre optic transmission network for CEC Liquid Telecom which runs along the Chirundu-Lusaka-Ndola route, via Chisamba, Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi, from Lusaka to Livingstone, through Mazabuka and Choma, and from Chililabombwe to Lubumbashi. This will be integrated into the existing CEC fibre assets in Zambia, with access to Liquid Telecom’s regional fibre network and submarine cables for onward connections to Europe, the Far East and the rest of the world.

CEC’s existing infrastructure will be further developed by CEC Liquid Telecom to provide local access super fast fibre optic broadband services and leased line capabilities. An operator neutral Data Center will also be constructed and CEC Liquid Telecom will introduce a number of advanced technologies and services including the implementation of Multiple Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology.

Michael Tarney, CEC’s Managing Director for Corporate Development, said: “This transaction brings together two of the leading infrastructure service providers in Zambia. CEC Liquid Telecom will provide the best possible telecommunications platform and resources for licensed operators to provide new, innovative and high quality services to end users, as well as exciting new opportunities for growth and development”.

“This new business will bring together two industry leaders and give customers the ability to access the best of both organizations’ local expertise and unrivalled global connectivity. At the same time, it will allow customers access to the latest in high speed fibre optic connectivity whilst receiving a superior level of customer service,” said Nic Rudnick, Liquid Telecom’s Chief Executive Officer.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies subject to regulatory approval from ZICTA, the Zambian Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and other relevant stakeholders.

Thus becomes the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) with the capability to offer new global IP services using MPLS over SDH infrastructure, reaching speeds up to STM64.

The initial phase of liquid’s network spans 8,300 route Km providing service across Zimbabwe. Converged Internet Protocol or IP-based communications services continue to gain momentum in the wholesale and enterprise market space.

Our Fibre network is able to handle a variety of access protocols and provides seamless interoperability across multiple carrier networks. Liquid MPLS Network cross boundaries and provide connectivity to South Africa and UK. MPLS VPN service from Liquid provides more effective way to unite multiple locations into a secure corporate network. New MPLS Meshed services offer Liquid’s enterprise customers the ability to use diverse carriers at multiple locations and to connect them in secure way via managed meshed network technologies.”