Hong Kong/Cape Town, South Africa – PCCW Global has entered into a new interconnection agreement that will benefit its customers and enterprises of Benin and neighboring Burkina Faso in Africa.
The African Economic Outlook predicts Benin’s real GDP will increase to 5.3% this year and the country’s developing private sector will be essential to the nation’s integration into global value chains. The Network-to-Network Interface (NNI) agreement signed between PCCW Global and Benin’s Isocel Telecom will boost business development and support the growth of the country.
The agreement will also open up cross border connectivity with neighboring Burkina Faso, where Isocel Telecom collaborates with a leading data carrier. Burkina Faso’s real GDP growth is projected to be 6.3%* in 2015, with agriculture and mining seen as the main growth generators.
Interconnecting with PCCW Global’s MPLS network provides connected operators and service providers with the ability to deliver multiple services over a single connection with full quality and class of service support. The PCCW Global network spans five continents and reaches deep into emerging markets, enabling easy and seamless access to 3,000 cities in 140 countries, providing an efficient way of optimising the delivery of video, voice and IT applications.
James Welch, PCCW Global’s Vice President and Head of Sales, EEMEA, said, “This move adds further weight to PCCW Global’s reputation for pioneering African connectivity. We operate one of Africa’s most advanced regional and international networks, and we are very honored that we are today able to announce that Benin and Burkina Faso have joined our global community of connected countries, and that customers in these countries, and our many customers around the world who want and need high quality access into these high growth countries, will now be able to reap the benefits associated with connectivity to PCCW Global’s technology-neutral MPLS network.”
The NNI agreement with Isocel Telecom also enables the provision of Ethernet and IP VPN services in Benin and neighboring countries.
Joey Esquibal, Isocel Telecom’s Chief Information Officer, said, “We are delighted to be working with a global carrier that has such a strong track record for facilitating pan-African and international connectivity and trade. I am confident that many of our business customers will be quick to take advantage of the new MPLS, Ethernet and IP VPN additions to the Isocel portfolio which this NNI agreement with PCCW Global will facilitate. This is a very exciting day for us and our customers.”
PCCW Global serves the voice, video, data, Internet, MPLS and interconnection requirements of service providers and enterprises across more than 45 African countries, and in doing so PCCW Global also continues to expand access to the growing number of submarine and terrestrial optical fiber cables running into and around the continent.
