Digital infrastructure firm WIOCC Group has signed a five-year, $129 million master services agreement with Laser Light Holdings.

As part of the terms, Laser Light will contract with WIOCC for capacity on terrestrial and subsea cables in and around Africa, as well as provide support services.

WIOCC will use Laser Light for its global connectivity needs beyond its current network footprint and bring the Laser Light service portfolio to its African clients.

WIOCC announced the agreement yesterday. The initial operations of the Laser Light networking platform are expected to begin at the end of 2023, with Africa being part of its beta programme roll-out, in partnership with Nokia.

Exact deployment details will be announced in the coming months, said WIOCC.

It said Laser Light is currently deploying its elastic, all-optical network across all service domains – land, sea, and space – operating as a fully converged platform.

“Customers of the platform will be able to self-provision where, when, and how much data they need across continents, countries and the Edge while only paying for the volume transported,” said WIOCC.

Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC, commented: “The opportunity to partner with Laser Light in bringing this transformational capability for businesses and consumers in Africa is a stepping stone in implementing our vision to make an enduring contribution to Africa’s communications.

"The partnership offers us the ability to extend reach beyond the current network footprint and expand our existing solutions and infrastructure portfolio with new services and capabilities for our clients. This agreement enables us to do so in an accelerated and cost-effective manner, which is beneficial to our clients and shareholders alike.”

Bob Brumley, chairman and CEO of Laser Light Holdings, added: “The demand for connectivity options in Africa is immense, and we are honoured to have Africa’s leading carriers’ carrier as one of our founding launch customers.

“Given their extensive infrastructure, relationships, and history of innovative and reliable telecommunications solutions, WIOCC is the ideal partner to be able greatly expand and accelerate the reach of the Laser Light platform throughout the continent.”