Friday Network News: July 12

Telefónica UK has signed a 10-year deal with Virgin Media Business, which will see the media giant rapidly increase data speeds for customers of Telefónica UK’s mobile arm, O2. Virgin Media Business will reportedly connect base stations to its fibre network via a high-capacity Ethernet service, in a bid to answer consumer demand for bandwidth-hungry services such as gaming and HD video-streaming. [read more]

Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) has increased its FTTH network coverage to connect 600,000 locations across the country. The company's fibre-optic network has a total length of 6,000km and provides services to households across Saudi Arabia at up to 1,000Mbps. [read more]

Oman's Omantel has announced additional 4G LTE coverage in the country as part of its strategy for enhanced broadband connectivity. The expansion is designed to deliver more choice, wider coverage and better quality services to Omantel customers, and comes one year after the initial network was launched. [read more]

Satellite provider O3b Networks is to provide next-generation satellite services to South Sudan as part of a deal with African ISP RCS-Communication. The move is said to provide fibre-like connectivity speeds to approximately 300,000 people in and around the Sudanese capital of Juba, an area which previously had limited broadband services. [read more]

Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Ghanaian service provider, Surfline Communications, for the commercial deployment of a 4G LTE network in the country. The network will be initially available in Ghana's capital Accra, and is designed to meet the growing demand for data and broadband capacity in the region. [read more]

The Scottish government has announced a £264 million investment in the roll-out of high-speed fibre broadband in the country, in partnership with British incumbent BT. BT will invest £106.7 million in the project which expects to connect 85% of Scottish homes and businesses by the end of 2015. [read more]

GTS is partnering with Ciena to upgrade its Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) network to 100G. The carrier has deployed Ciena's converged packet optical solution on routes in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany, which is said to be able to provide 100G capacity over distances of 1,400km. [read more]

Gilat Satcom is set to launch a number of fibre-optic routes linking the east and west coast of Africa. The operator's existing MPLS network connects to both the WACS and EASSy subsea cables via fibre local loops in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Mozambique. [read more]

Telkom Indonesia has selected French vendor, Alcatel-Lucent, for the deployment of a fibre-optic network infrastructure connecting the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago. The undersea cable project is designed to improve competition in the region, as well as deliver further opportunities for social and economic development. [read more]

 NTT DoCoMo is delivering LTE services in the Mount Fuji region, Japan. The services are reportedly available throughout the World Heritage site, including the trail entrances and exits, all climbing routes, mountainside cabins and Mount Fuji's 3,776 metre summit. [read more]