SWINDON, U.K. -- AFL, a leading global manufacturer of fibre optic cable to the electric utility market, is supplying fibre optic cable and equipment to Nigeria's first open access fibre optic backbone network. Nigeria's National Broadband Carrier Network Project includes 14,000 km of fibre optic network linked through regional network owners to enable advanced communications to all regions of the country.

Network owner, Dangote Industries Limited, is installing over 3,000 km of fibre optic cable supplied by AFL to link to this open access backbone which is operated by Dancom Technologies and will interconnect directly with Phase3 Telecom. The Dancom network construction incorporates AFL's SkyWrap® solution, a fibre optic cable that is helically applied on existing ground or phase conductors using specially designed installation equipment.

"AFL is honoured to participate in such an important project that will directly impact the lives of the people of Nigeria. Given the difficult terrains, wetlands and environments of the Niger Delta region where part of this installation is located, SkyWrap was the perfect solution for this project," said Paul Thompson, managing director of AFL in Europe.

AFL Telecommunications