Int’l Roundup: TI Sparkle, Seaborn, Southern Cross

Here’s a few bits of news from around the globe that are worth a quick look:

TI Sparkle is taking a swing at the Iranian market. They announced the signing of a partnership agreement with the Telecom Infrastructure Company of Iran, a.k.a. TIC, that will see Sparkle add a new IP PoP in Tehran. Last week we heard that Orange was actively talking with MCI about buying a stake, but this project of Sparkles looks to be ahead of that timetable on a different track. Iran is hot in European circles this month — yesterday Capacity said that the vendor Italtel is making a pitch to help upgrade the country’s broadband network. The relaxation of sanctions against the country is creating opportunities, but I’ll bet it won’t be an easy market to crack.

Seaborn Networks has selected some more of the technology that will power its new cable system connecting Brazil and the US East Coast. They’ll be deploying Amdocs Optima, a cloud-based digital customer management and commerce platform, as part of their monetization efforts. Seabras-1 got its funding in place last winter and is still scheduled to go live by next summer.

The Southern Cross cable system may apparently be going to get a third leg. According to reports, the submarine cable operator outlined its plans to a selection of customers recently for the Southern Cross NEXT project, which would consist of a new low latency route connecting Los Angeles with both Auckland and Sydney. There are many steps yet between here and there, but the target date for the expansion would be before 2020. Perhaps that’s enough time for the marketing to consider what a cross becomes when you add a third line — an asterisk perhaps? Haha

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Categories: ILECs, PTTs · Internet Backbones · Software · Undersea cables