AFL Supplies Solution to First Open Access Fibre Backbone in Nigeria

SWINDON, United Kingdom - Friday, July 8th 2011 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AFL, a leading global manufacturer of fibre optic cable to the electric utility market, is supplying fibre optic cable and equipment to Nigeria’s first open access fibre optic backbone network. Nigeria’s National Broadband Carrier Network Project includes 14,000km of fibre optic network linked through regional network owners to enable advanced communications to all regions of the country.

Network owner, Dangote Industries Limited, is installing over 3,000km of fibre optic cable supplied by AFL to link to this open access backbone which is operated by Dancom Technologies and will interconnect directly with Phase3 Telecom. The Dancom network construction incorporates AFL’s SkyWrap®solution, a fibre optic cable that is helically applied on existing ground or phase conductors using specially designed installation equipment.

“AFL is honoured to participate in such an important project that will directly impact the lives of the people of Nigeria. Given the difficult terrains, wetlands and environments of the Niger Delta region where part of this installation is located, SkyWrap was the perfect solution for this project,” said Paul Thompson, managing director of AFL in Europe.

Boye Olusanya, managing director of Dancom Technologies commented, “The lower eastern half of the project was completed last month and is now ready to carry commercial traffic. The SkyWrap solution has enabled this first stage of installation to be deployed quickly at an average rate of between 5 and 9 km per day with minimal disruption to existing power services. This solution was especially outstanding when we crossed a large 1.3km span over the River Niger.”

“AFL SkyWrap technology is allowing us to bring secure and reliable high bandwidth data services to many regions of Nigeria where capacity and quality of network services were very limited. When completed the Dancom and Phase3 network will be part of the only neutral open access national fibre backbone in Nigeria,” added Aliko Dangote, president and CEO of Dangote Industries.

Stanley Jegede, CEO of Phase3 Telecom stated, “The deployment of Dancom network is a welcome development to the telecoms industry in Nigeria as it helps to achieve a one-network objective that will enable transmission on a more secure right-of-way across the country.”

For additional information on AFL and its cable products, visit www.AFLglobal.com.

About AFL

AFL provides industry-leading products and services to the electric utility, broadband, communications, OEM, enterprise, wireless and transit rail markets as well as the emerging markets of oil and gas, mining, nuclear, avionics, medical, renewable and intelligent grid. The company’s diverse product portfolio includes fibre optic cable, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectors, fusion splicers, test equipment and training. AFL’s service portfolio includes market-leading positions with the foremost communications companies supporting both the central office and outside plant areas.

Founded in 1984, AFL is proud to offer engineering expertise, exceptional products and reliable service that help our customers improve their critical and electrical infrastructure. AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Asia. The company is headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan. For more information, visit www.AFLglobal.com.

About Dancom Technologies

Dancom Technologies, a Dangote Group company, started operations in 2009 with the acquisition of a 3G and a unified access services license by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) along with a National long distance license under the Alheri Engineering Company Ltd (AEC). AEC secured the concession license from Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to build a carrier fiber optic network in Nigeria. Dancom currently operates that license as the technical service network operator for Alheri Engineering Company.

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Contacts

AFL

Joanne Lawrence, Public Relations EMEA

+44 1793 647200

jlawrence@afl-europe.com