Broadband Infraco, Huawei Partner to Build South Africa’s National All-Optical Backbone

Wedoany.com Report-Dec.9, South Africa's state-owned Broadband Infraco (BBI) has signed a strategic partnership with Huawei to deploy a national intelligent all-optical backbone network, significantly advancing the country's SA Connect broadband strategy.

The upgraded infrastructure employs Huawei's Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) and 800G wavelength technology, enabling high-capacity, flexible transmission across long distances. This will support rapid expansion of broadband access networks, real-time inter-city and data-centre connectivity, and high-bandwidth applications in healthcare, education, e-commerce and e-government services.

To date, BBI's intelligent optical backbone has already enabled connectivity for more than 13,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots and over 2 million previously underserved households in rural and underdeveloped areas. The completed network will cover all nine provinces and extend to South Africa's borders with Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and Zimbabwe, while a new fibre route links Johannesburg to the Kopfontein border post, strengthening regional high-speed connectivity across the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Gift Zowa, CEO of Broadband Infraco, stated: "We are bridging the digital divide on two fronts, closing the digital inequality gap at home and narrowing the gap between South Africa and the world's most industrialized nations. We are addressing one of SA Connect's primary goals, the DCDT's flagship broadband connectivity project, to make connectivity inclusive and bring stable, high-capacity broadband to all South African communities and government facilities by 2030."

The project directly supports the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies' mandate to deliver affordable, reliable broadband nationwide, reduce urban-rural disparities and accelerate South Africa's digital economy. Huawei and BBI will continue their collaboration to further expand coverage and capacity, ensuring broader access to modern digital services for citizens and enterprises throughout the country.