The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized how crucial it is to have stable and high-speed internet access. In the thick of social distancing, broadband connections allow people to work remotely, do e-learning, access health care services, and perform ordinary household activities such as ordering food or groceries.

Google is collaborating with Sparkle and others to build and operate two submarine cable systems linking the Middle East with southern Europe and Asia: the Blue Submarine Cable System connecting Italy, France, Greece, and Israel; and the Raman Submarine Cable System connecting Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman and India. Google's Blue-Raman cable system will consist of two portions.

Nokia and Empire Access, recognized as the fastest internet service provider (ISP) in the US for 2021, would bring ultra-broadband services to the Greater Binghamton area in the Southern Tier region of New York.

To help meet the growing need for more data flow and online content between the US and Europe, Lumen Technologies significantly increases its network capacity across the Atlantic Ocean by adding a new on-net route via Google’s Dunant subsea cable system. This route runs between Richmond, Virginia and Paris, France.

Infinera tells us that Sparkle selected Infinera’s ICE6 800G-capable coherent technology to enhance its new Mediterranean and European Optical Backbone, Nibble. Deploying Infinera’s ICE6 solution will enable Sparkle to launch new 400 GbE services over its existing infrastructure while boosting its network capacity by up to 54%, as demonstrated in a recent trial on two of Sparkle’s major routes in Italy.

Rogers Communications has selected Ribbon’s optical networking solution to upgrade its transport network. Rogers is one of the first tier-one North American service providers to leverage DWDM 400G ZR+ technology, which supports multiple 400 Gigabits-per-second (400G) connections for increased capacity across its national footprint.

DZS will be a key partner in supporting Consolidated Communications, Inc.’s (CCI’s) gigabit fiber network expansion initiative which extends to over 70% of its service area nationwide. This five-year expansion already underway, which includes utilization of the latest enhancements to the DZS Velocity broadband access portfolio and DZS Helix edge access solutions. CCI will pass over 1.6 million homes and business, including 27,000 locations supported by the Rural Digital Opportunities Fund (RDOF). Moreover, these locations are targeted for symmetrical, multi-gigabit capable services enabled by XGS-PON technology, making this initiative one of the most advanced, large scale and high-performance network buildouts of 10 gigabits per second (10 Gbps) capable broadband access technology in North America.

KKR completed an agreement with Telefónica Colombia, a subsidiary of the leading Spanish telecom group Telefónica, to establish Colombia’s first independent nationwide open access wholesale digital infrastructure company.

Bulk Infrastructure’s Oslo Internet Exchange (OS-IX) facility has doubled its data center capacity, thanks to the collaboration with Norwegian-based systems integrator and software developer Innit.

The trans-Atlantic EllaLink cable system linking Europe and Latin America has entered commercial operation. The 6,200km cable has landing stations at Sines in Portugal and Praia Grande near Sao Paolo (Brazil), with branches to Kourou (French Guiana), the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira and Praia on the African island nation of Cape Verde. Infinera’s ICE6 800G coherent technology meanwhile enables EllaLink to offer advanced customer products and services, supporting over 100Tbps between Portugal and Brazil.