EXPANDING THE MONET CABLE SYSTEM

US-based data center colocation, cloud and connectivity provider, Flexential, has announced a new partnership with Angola Cables to expand its colocation and interconnection footprint to the Southern and West African markets.

Angola Cables is an African connectivity and data center service provider, and through this partnership, the company is extending its subsea cable (MONET) to an additional point of access in the U.S., housed in Flexential’s Fort Lauderdale data center.

“Given the significant presence we’re already seeing from customers, including over-the-top (OTT) providers, hyperscalers and Fortune 500 companies in the African region, we’re excited to bring these organizations a new level of international capacity and connectivity via new cross connect options. The extension of the MONET cable into Fort Lauderdale is a significant step forward for international connectivity,” said Tim Parker, Senior Vice President, Network Strategy, Flexential.

The MONET cable system was launched by Angola Cables, developed with consortium members including Algar Telecom, Antel, Google and TE SubCom to connect Florida with Brazil. This 10, 556km was completed and became operational in 2018.

Through MONET and third-party submarine cable networks, Angola Cables directly connects to more than 20 Points of Presence and Internet Exchange Points across America, Africa, Europe and Asia. The company also operates two data centers, AngoNAP Fortaleza Tier III facility in Brazil and AngoNAP Luanda facility in Angola. Angola Cables further manages PIX in Brazil and Angonix Angola, one of the Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in Africa.

“Our partnership with Flexential will strengthen interconnection options across southern and West Africa,” said Ângelo Gama, CEO of Angola Cables.

“Plugging into Flexential’s extensive network of data centers in the U.S. will benefit our clients in Africa by not only extending their presence and exposure to the highly active U.S. market but will open up further opportunities for enterprises in Africa to establish direct connections with parent companies, subsidiaries, business partners and suppliers across the U.S.”

As part of its data center expansion, Flexential also announced few weeks ago that it plans to develop a new 18MW data center facility in Raleigh, North Carolina.