MUNICH -- Siemens Networks is providing Sonitel, the principal telecoms operator in Niger, with a high-speed fiber optics network. A section of it was inaugurated in the capital Niamey. The fiber-optic backbone links Niger to the SAT3 undersea cable off the coasts of West Africa connecting Spain to South Africa. This will put the country among the major telecommunications players in the region.

The entire project in Niamey comprises firstly a fiber-optic loop in the Niamey area with links to Burkina Faso and Benin and further to the SAT3 undersea cable, and secondly a fiber-optic high-capacity access loop, also in Niamey. In the first phase of the project, Siemens installed a fiber-optic backbone as part of an international link between Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso and to connect further regions to the national network. In the second phase a high-capacity access backbone will be installed, consisting of a central fiber-optic loop and various client loops for more than 100 major Sonitel customers. They will use the network for voice as well as data transfer from their branch offices. Siemens supplies and installs the entire infrastructure here, including the passive elements such as the optical cables, the active elements such as communication systems for enterprises and a TNMS-M network management system.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; Frankfurt: SIE)