Hatif Libya, a subsidiary of the Libyan Telecommunication Holding Co. (LPTIC), announced the signing of a multimillion-dollar agreement with Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) for the supply of Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON) technology. The deal is positioned as a major step forward in economic relations between Libya and U.S.; Abdelhamid AlDabaiba, head of the National Unity Government, and U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, attended the signing ceremony alongside representatives of the two companies.
“We view this exciting new partnership between Hatif Libya and Infinera as a major steppingstone towards strong Libyan-American economic relations. It highlights the welcome return of American companies to Libya to assist in the completion of stalled projects. Deals like this are the cornerstone of a diversified, robust economy of the future,” said Prime Minister AlDabaiba at the signing.
The network upgrade will help establish Libya as an important communications hub between Europe and Africa, Hatif Libya asserts. Once deployed, the ASON fiber network technology will upgrade the transmission capacities and cybersecurity of 60 sites throughout the country. The network is expected to support operational capacities of 600 Gbps on the Mediterranean coast and 200 Gbps in the southern region, with headroom to expand to 9 Tbps.
"The partnership with Infinera boosts LPTIC’s commitment to providing improved connectivity services and is an important milestone in our strategic goal of digital transformation. This contract will strengthen the telecommunications sector in all regions of the country and will help boost our economy. We see this early cooperation as a signal of what’s ahead for the telecommunications sector, and we fully intend to pursue more partnerships with the U.S.,” commented Faisel Gergab, chairman of the board of directors at LPTIC, who attended the signing ceremony. “It’s very important to us that this project contributes to stability and democracy in Libya, and we are supporting the High Electoral Commission ahead of December 24 elections by facilitating voter registration and auditing polling operations, to help pave the way to a peaceful, democratic transfer of power.”
"We are pleased to announce this strategic partnership with Hatif Libya, which represents a key foundation of the Libyan telecom sector. Working together, we can build a telecommunications infrastructure that will meet current and future needs,” added David Heard, CEO of Infinera, who also attended the ceremony. “We are looking forward to establishing a successful long-term relationship based on our technology innovations, industry expertise, and committed partnership. We are thrilled to be entering Libya and to be working closely with our Libyan partners to deliver a best-in-class solution.”
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