Italian international telecommunications operator Sparkle and GÉANT, the pan-European research and education network, have expanded their long-standing infrastructure alliance to roll out high-performance data routes spanning Africa, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The move, driven by new capacity agreements, aims to eliminate data bottlenecks for the global scientific and academic community, enabling faster cross-border collaboration and strengthening digital connectivity across underserved regions, stated the parties.
Africa has secured a major infrastructure boost with the activation of a new Lagos-to-Cape Town route.
Delivered to the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), the link connects the newly established Lagos Global Exchange Point in Nigeria directly to the ZAOXI Global Exchange Point in South Africa.
Crucially, the deployment has enabled WACREN to interconnect with the UbuntuNet Alliance’s Eastern and Southern African academic community.
This milestone marks the first-ever interconnection between Africa’s regional research and education networks executed entirely on African soil, said Sparkle.
The African rollout was funded through AfricaConnect3, a European Union-backed initiative supporting high-performance academic networks across the continent.
The project is jointly implemented by WACREN, the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN), and the UbuntuNet Alliance, alongside GÉANT.
Simultaneously, a new high-speed link between Slough in the UK and Amman in Jordan has gone live.
The route enhances speeds between ASREN and the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, the region's premier synchrotron light source and flagship international research facility.
Further west, a Marseille-to-Cairo link integrates the Egyptian National Scientific and Technical Information Network into the wider ASREN and European networks via GÉANT.
Both Mediterranean routes were procured under the European Union-funded EUMEDplus project, which focuses on enhancing digital infrastructure between Arab Mediterranean nations and Europe.
“This collaboration with GÉANT highlights the strategic role of connectivity in enabling global scientific progress,” said Annalisa Bonatti, vice president for enterprise at Sparkle.
“By leveraging our international backbone, we are helping research and academic communities collaborate, share data, and innovate seamlessly across continents.”
Bram Peeters, chief network services officer at GÉANT, emphasised the critical nature of the infrastructure.
“Researchers and students depend on fast, reliable connectivity to collaborate and access critical resources. Our role is to make this possible by working alongside our international research and education networking community.”
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