Carvalho will still retain his role as the Chief Marketing Officer for the Angola Cables’ Group and will continue to lead Angola Cables’ global marketing strategy. 

As CEO of the company’s European subsidiary he will  focus on positioning TelCables Europe as the Atlantic digital bridge for backbone networks and operators looking for ‘front door access’ to the US, Latam, Africa and the Middle East through direct or diverse traffic routing options. 

Carvalho says that TelCables Europe will operate as an integrated neutral accelerator platform for European carriers, content providers and corporate business. 

Using the extensive and highly connected Angola Cables’ – and partner subsea cable systems, the platform will offer data centre to data centre and cloud to cloud ready networking, low latency IP transit as well as an extensive range of interconnection solutions – from physical, to multi-cloud and hybrid infrastructure deployments. 

“The TelCables Europe operation reinforces our global strategy and commitment to expanding the presence of our owned and partner submarine networks in the Atlantic, with scalable connectivity solutions and routing options to meet the growing market demand. We can provide alternative routes to carry traffic from the Middle East and Africa to Europe and the US via SACS, MONET, or EllaLink without having to pass through critical points. This ensures more redundancy routing options, greater security and flexibility for our customers,” notes Carvalho. 

Ângelo Gama, CEO of Angola Cables Group said that Carvalho’s appointment was a natural choice given his extensive telecommunications experience and strategic knowledge of the dynamics of the European market. 

Commenting on his new responsibilities, Carvalho said,

“I am honoured to take on this role and lead the TelCables Europe into its next phase of business growth and I look forward to the exciting challenges that lie ahead.”

“Samuel’s deep understanding of the European telecommunications landscape, combined with his strategic insight and proven leadership abilities within our Global Operations makes him the ideal candidate to drive TelCables Europe’s growth and strengthen our position as a global network operator and Atlantic connectivity leader,” concluded  Gama.

The presence of TelCables Nigeria, a subsidiary of global ICT solutions and services provider, Angola Cables is set to boost low-latency interconnectivity and Cloud access across West Africa, significantly advancing the region’s digital infrastructure.

Rack Centre, CEO, Lars Johannisson, welcoming TelCables Nigeria to the facility, highlighted the ongoing expansion of Rack Centre’s Lagos campus with the near completion of the LGS 2 Data Centre, which will bring the facility’s total capacity to 13.5MW of IT power and 7,200 square meters of space. According to him,

“The is a major step for Africa’s digital development as access to the infrastructure necessary to drive and expand digital ecosystems across the continent, boost innovation and ultimately drive economic growth within Nigeria and across the continent will be readily available.”

He explained further that the LGS 2 data centre has also been developed to ensure AI-readiness that allows for enhanced data processing and storage capabilities, which are critical for businesses and organisations that are embracing artificial intelligence and machine learning.

“Once completed, operators like TelCables, hyperscalers, businesses, telecom operators, and service providers will have access to world-class, carrier-neutral and cloud-neutral infrastructure to scale their digital operations securely. This will ultimately foster economic growth in Nigeria and the West Africa region,” he added.

Emphasising the importance of the strategic expansion by partnering with Rack Centre, Fernando Fernandes, CEO of TelCables Nigeria and West Africa, explained that

“Our partnership with Rack Centre is part of a greater vision, and if we can do this together, we are setting the right course for Africa’s future prosperity as a contributor to the rapidly evolving digital economy”.

The strategic expansion aims to significantly enhance digital connectivity across West Africa using the extensive Angola Cables backbone network to support businesses and communities obtain easier, more affordable access to digital content and services. Leveraging Angola Cables’ robust SACS and WACS subsea cable systems, the new PoP will enable efficient routing of data traffic to South America, the U.S., and Europe through the EllaLink subsea cable.

This infrastructure not only enhances standard routing but also offers redundancy options for improved resilience and reliability.

Rack Centre stands out with its Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.35, the lowest in the West African region, along with a sustainable energy generation mix that sets it apart from competitors.

The LGS 2 Data Centre embodies innovation and sustainability through its adoption of green practices and AI-readiness.

In June 2022, Rack Centre became the first International Finance Corporation (IFC) EDGE certified data centre in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

This officially makes LGS2 the first Green Certified Data Centre in Africa. It is the most connected facility in the region according to its PeeringDB ranking and links every country on Africa’s Atlantic coast.

The arrangement gives customers direct access to the Francophone markets of West Africa and gives both companies the option to extend their respective global connectivity by sharing inland networks and the subsea cable network and backbone infrastructure of Angola Cables. 

Rui Faria, Global Commercial Director of Angola Cables, says,

“Getting access to efficient and secure digital and cloud services is an essential requirement for any business in today’s gigabyte economy.  Access to the West Africa Djoliba network and our robust submarine infrastructure broadens the capability of businesses in accessing international markets and offers expanded traffic destinations across West Africa and other parts of the world.“

Djoliba is the first network to offer complete security in West Africa with more than 10,000km of terrestrial fibre optic network offering, superfast broadband provision (up to 100 Gbit/s) at a 99.99% availability rate.

The expansion of infrastructure combining the Djoliba terrestrial end-to-end fibre optic network and Angola Cables’ already established global network of WACS, SACS and MONET cables will offer clients secure, low latency connectivity – and additional redundancy options to multiple destinations in South America, the USA and Europe.

As Africa’s most interconnected network operator, Angola Cables is a major wholesaler and carrier of the continent’s data and internet traffic to other parts of the world.

Faria says that the company has been spearheading digital connectivity in the South Atlantic for the past few years boosting economies in Africa and South America whilst providing uninterrupted, low-latency connections across the world through its robust global and partner network.  

The international ranking system gauges and ranks the number of interconnections that can route Internet traffic through a specific network or network ID (ASN Number).

In the latest global rankings, international digital services and solutions provider, Angola Cables achieved the highest ranking by an African entity – ranking 33^rd on the global list – the company is the only African entity in the Top 100 list.

Ângelo Gama, CEO of Angola Cables described the CAIDA ranking is an important yardstick that gives insights into the size and level of interconnectivity when routing internet traffic around Africa and to other continents across the world.

“As a global network service provider based in Africa, we have built a robust and efficient network that gives customers secure, low latency connectivity across the world from the USA to South America, Europe and Asia – through our resilient subsea cable network and 3^rd party partnerships.  In addition to this, we have more than twenty Points of Presence (PoPs) in twenty countries and over 200 international peering agreements currently in place,” says Gama.

“The Angola Cables’ network offers flexible and highly reliable services to businesses, academic and research entities and end-users looking to conduct or expand their operations and reach in today’s modern, global digital economy.”

Of the first 100 global network entities monitored by CAIDA: 28 are North American; 36 European; 19 Latin American, 12 Asian, 3 from Oceania, with the African continent being solely represented by Angola Cables.

Autonomous Systems were introduced to regulate networking organizations such as Internet Service Providers (ISP), educational institutions and government agencies and also serve a more practical purpose of routing packets of information between different networks or ASN assigned entities using Border Gateway Protocols (BGPs) to route digital data and content.

“The latest CAIDA rankings reflect the efforts of a dedicated team of individuals and business partners that are focused on delivering effective connectivity solutions and services that can interconnect more businesses, content providers and ISPs in Africa to the rest of the world,” concluded Gama.

Angola Cables is a multinational in the ICT sector with differentiated connectivity solutions for the wholesale and corporate markets.

With a robust transport infrastructure and highly interconnected IP network, Angola Cables provides access to the largest IXPs, Tier 1 operators and global content providers.

Through the subsea cable systems of SACS, Monet and WACS we connect the Americas, Africa and Europe with onward connections to Asia.

Angola Cables manage the Data Center Tier III AngoNAP Fortaleza (Brazil) and AngoNAP Luanda (Angola) as well as PIX and Angonix, one of the largest Internet Exchange Points in Africa.