Zamtel contracts Huawei Technologies

Zambia Telecommunications (Zamtel) has contracted Chinese firm Huawei Technologies to lay its national fiber-optic backbone and extend the Lusaka Metropolitan fiber-optic project, Zamtel public relations manager Charles Kachikoti announced Thursday.

Huawei will lay cables on more than 10 routes across the country up to Zambia's borders, Kachikoti revealed.

"While the national fiber-optic backbone will be ready in 2009, the Lusaka Metropolitan fiber-optic project will be ready for use by corporate clients in the capital, Lusaka, by the end of this year," he said.

Both projects will cost Zamtel US$48 million.

The national fiber-optic backbone will be Zambia's first, linking the country's provincial centers and towns. It is expected to increase bandwidth for the transmission of voice and data and reduce the high cost of communication nationwide.

Excavation work for the project has already begun, Kachikoti said, and the cable roll-out has already been completed in some areas. Zamtel had also installed optic equipment in six stations, he added.

As bandwidth demand increases rapidly with technological advances, Kachikoti said, fiber optics will continue to play a vital role in the long term success of telecommunications in Zambia.