South Africa-based global IT services player Dimension Data says it has made an offer to acquire the communications business of Singapore-headquartered Jebsen & Jessen Group for an unspecified sum. Dimension Data says the acquisition of Jebsen & Jessen Communications, which comprises businesses in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia that serve more than 800 customers, would boost its capabilities in the areas of contact centers, collaboration and mobility solutions and add about 250 staff to its headcount.

Strategic acquisitions are a stated part of Dimension Data's growth strategy: The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT, says it is currently generating annual revenues of US$8 billion and is aiming to achieve annual revenues of US$12 billion by 2018, double its 2014 run rate. (See Dimension Data Unveils 'Buy to Grow' Strategy and DiData Deal Spells Bad News for SIs.)

Swiss optical and wireless components vendor Huber+Suhner Inc. , which sells its products to companies in the communications, transportation and industrial sectors, has reported a 2.9% dip in first half revenues to 356.1 million Swiss francs ($379 million) and a 31.3% decline in EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) to CHF23.3 million ($24.8 million), though its reported numbers were hit hard by the strong appreciation of the Swiss franc against other currencies. The vendor noted growth in the communications market, driven by mobile network infrastructure rollouts and says it has gained a foothold in the 4G network construction market in India. For more details, see this press release. (See Airtel, RJio Add Impetus to India's 4G Market.)

As a result of the impact of the strong Swiss franc, the company recently announced some cost-cutting measures that will result in the relocation of some functions to Poland and a number of job losses in Switzerland.

African operators MTN Group Ltd. and Liquid Telecom have announced a network-sharing partnership aimed at extending their respective footprints and offerings. Liquid Telecom said the agreement would allow it, in particular, to meet demand for broadband services in West Africa, where it has not yet rolled out fiber networks, while MTN reckons the partnership will enable it to serve enterprise customers across Africa and in other parts of the world. The move comes days after Liquid launched a new retail broadband offering under the brand name of Hai. (See Eurobites: GÉANT Builds SDN Testbed.)

Telefónica is upgrading its subsea links to the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa with help from Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, the cables subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent that is set to be spun off via an IPO or trade sale. The PENCAN-7 and PENCAN-8 undersea cable systems (each 1,400 km in length) that connect the Spanish mainland to the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife are being upgraded to enable 100 Gbit/s links, a tenfold increase compared with current capabilities.

— Ray Le Maistre, , Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading