Libyan telecommunications firm Hatif, a subsidiary of Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Company (LPTIC), has signed an agreement with US networking company Infinera to expand and develop Libya’s fibre optic transport network and provide access to internet and mobile phone services to areas not yet connected.

LPTIC said the need for secure digital transport capabilities has increased with the rapid development of the country’s telecommunications industry and the growing demand for mobile phones services and the internet amid increasing digital transformation.

The company said the project leverages universal switching and transport capabilities, enabling the national network to dynamically switch traffic over diverse paths to ensure the continuation of service in case of interruption caused by physical damage to cables or power outages.

To do this, LPTIC said Infinera will deploy automatically switched optical network (ASON) technology.

Once completed, the company said the network will deliver capacity and cyber protection for 60 sites throughout the country using advanced optical equipment and technologies to reach operational capacity of 600 Gigabytes on the coast strip and 200 Gigabytes in the southern region, which can be expanded to reach nine Terabytes.

LPTIC chairman Faisel Gergab said: “The partnership is an important milestone in our strategic goal of digital transformation. This contract will strengthen the telecommunications sector in all the regions of the country and will help boost our economy. We see this early cooperation as a signal of what’s ahead for the telecommunications sector and we fully intend to pursue more partnerships with the USA.”

David Heard, CEO of Infinera said, “We are pleased to announce this strategic partnership with Hatif Libya, which represents a key foundation of the Libyan telecom sector. Working together, we can build a telecom infrastructure that will meet current and future needs. We are looking forward to establishing a successful long-term relationship based on our technology innovations, industry expertise and committed partnership.”