French-based communications firm, Alcatel Lucent, has announced that it has inked two major partnerships in Africa.

The company says it has collaborated with Angola Cables, a consortium of Angolan telecoms operators, to establish a terrestrial fibre-optic link to the West African Cable System (WACS).

It also announced a new network expansion programme with Togo Cellulaire to enable a major transformation of the West African mobile operator's network.

Commenting on the partnership in Angola, Daniel Jaeger, vice-president of Alcatel-Lucent Africa said, “Alcatel-Lucent is deeply committed to the vision of digital inclusion, and we are gratified by the opportunity to help bring world class communications services to the people of Angola and their neighbours."

Antonio Nunes, the chief executive officer of Angola Cables, said Angola already has connectivity to the outside world, but this new connection to the WACS through the establishment of the 100G link, consumers and businesses throughout the region will benefit from an increase in the availability of communications services.

Angola Cables is establishing a terrestrial fibre-optic link with the West African Cable System (WACS), the submarine communications network connecting the countries of West Africa with Europe.

It is poised to support internet services for customers of communications service providers in Angola as well as in neighbouring countries, increasing internet availability.

Meanwhile, the 2012 expansion programme will enable Togo Cellulaire to transform its network, increase its capacity and improve its reliability to support growing demand for mobile broadband data and video in the country.

The number of 2G BTS and 3G NodeB will be increased, microwave links will provide robust backhaul to the new sites and the capacity of some of the existing microwave links will be extended.

"We are honoured to continue accompanying our-long standing collaboration with Togo Cellulaire in their network infrastructure evolution; this new phase will enable Togo Cellulaire to reinforce its position as the leading mobile operator in Togo and will confirm Alcatel-Lucent’s leadership and strong commitment to its customers in the region," said Jaeger.