Somtel Chooses Hardened DZS Saber Optical EDGE Systems to Transform Economics of Inter-City Aggregation and Transport across the Somali Region
In one of the world’s most challenging deployment environments, DZS compact and environmentally resilient coherent optics-driven middle-mile solutions offer leading-edge reliability, scalability, performance, and cost efficiencies
DALLAS, Texas, USA, June 20, 2023 – DZS (Nasdaq: DZSI), a global leader of access, optical, and cloud-controlled software-defined solutions, today announced that Somtel, a leading telecommunications service provider based in Hargeisa, Somaliland and a subsidiary of Dahabshiil -a global finance organization, is deploying DZS Saber compact and environmentally hardened coherent optics solutions to future-proof its dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) backbone network for reliable, cost-effective delivery of high-bandwidth aggregation and transport services. Somtel’s network spans numerous cities across the Somali region and passes all network traffic types—mobile and fixed, consumer and enterprise.
“Somtel is pleased to partner with DZS to transform the reliability and performance, as well as the economics and future scalability of our DWDM backhaul network,” said Abdirashid Duale, Group CEO, Dahabshiil. “We approached DZS because their hardened coherent optics systems have proven to be highly reliable in extreme dusty and heat conditions for our partner Somaliland Cable over several years. DZS Saber Optical EDGE systems are the only solutions available in the market that give us hundreds of Gigabits per second (Gbps) of bandwidth point-to-point DWDM per wavelength in a hardened form factor. Additionally, as we add more sites, move to 5G, and begin deploying fiber to the home (FTTH) and other advanced services, DZS provides us with compact and scalable solutions today that we can easily expand in place to handle Terabits per second of transport capacity at a fraction of the cost of traditional datacenter-optimized transport systems.”
Reliability and stability are critical in Somtel’s middle-mile fiber network, which uses point-to-point DWDM to backhaul all of its telecommunications traffic from various citywide aggregation points to the core in Mogadishu, Somalia. Failures and performance limitations would directly impact customer experience and ultimately revenues. DZS has met this challenge head-on with its DZS Saber innovation, contributing to Somtel’s success as one of the region’s fastest-growing telecommunications service providers.
Going forward, Somtel will be among the first service providers in Africa to deploy the new DZS Saber 4400 platform, the next leap in innovation in DZS coherent optics solutions. A first-of-its-kind hardened, modular, coherent optical metro and edge transport solution, the DZS Saber 4400 delivers up to 400 Gbps per wavelength and supports the industry’s smallest form factor multi-degree CDC Flex-Grid ROADM capability. As Somtel continues to grow in traffic, scale, and reach, DZS Optical EDGE solutions stand ready to meet the challenge.
“The optical EDGE space is rapidly transitioning to bringing optical transport technologies to the edge of the network around the world, but in places like the Somali region with extreme weather and limited infrastructure, these requirements are already present,” said Charlie Vogt, CEO, DZS. “Somtel is deploying our environmentally hardened coherent optics solutions in some of the most challenging weather environments on the globe to deliver ultra-high performance, ultra-reliable, and future-ready middle-mile services around the Horn of Africa. We are proud to be a key enabler of their success and see them as a great example for other regions of the world like the U.S. which is rapidly expanding fiber into rural areas that hardened coherent optics can be transformational in enabling carriers to achieve fast growth and rapid network scale. With our new DZS Saber 4400 now part of their go-forward plans, Somtel will have the flexibility to add CDC Flex-Grid ROADM functionality as modules in their transport solutions, providing them with significantly enhanced opportunities to add new services and monetize their network.”
For service providers looking to streamline their end-to-end network performance, initiate multi-service, multi-haul transport upgrades, deliver remote connectivity, or deploy fiber-deep architectures, the new DZS Saber 4400 platform and associated module options redefine the economics of coherent optical metro and edge transport, enabling operators to avoid costs and complexities around environmental management in existing or new cabinets. This makes the DZS Saber 4400 ideal for cost-effective transformation of optical network infrastructure to meet emerging hyper-speed edge traffic demands and deliver differentiating services to consumers and businesses in not only the Horn of Africa, but across the continent, the Middle East, and around the world.
To learn more about DZS, visit https://www.dzsi.com.
About Somtel
Somtel is a leading telecom and technology service provider with the widest network coverage and the fastest 4G+ network in Somaliland and the other Somali region. From our headquarters in Hargeisa, Somaliland, Mogadishu, and Garowe in Somalia and guided by our values, we are delivering an ambitious, new digital world to our telecom customers across the region — one of the fastest-growing areas for mobile telecommunications. Somtel offers mobile payment services eDahab, internet services, supporting the community, creating jobs locally, offering shares to the wider public, bringing fiberoptics via sea and land, affordable internet using the latest technology, and working with leading international companies.
To learn more about Somtel visit https://somtelnetwork.net.
Somtel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/somtel
Somtel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/somtel-international-ltd/
About DZS
DZS Inc. (Nasdaq: DZSI) is a global leader of access, optical, and cloud-controlled software-defined solutions.
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