China Unicom connects with Africa to boost telecom development

China Unicom, one of the nation's top three telecom carriers, established a new subsidiary in Johannesburg, South Africa in July, demonstrating the company's determination to promote China-Africa cooperation, especially in infrastructure construction and information and communication technology development in Africa.

The move also marks the latest milestone in the company's international business development.

With the rapid development of the economy on the African continent, the demand for international information services in African countries has increased substantially. As a company that specializes in international information services, China Unicom has worked closely with African telecommunication operators and equipment manufacturers to provide products and solutions, including innovative ICT services, premium internet, global networking solutions and cloud-network integrated solutions.

The company provides high-quality services for Chinese businesses entering the African market and for African companies expanding their business globally.

To date, China Unicom has 17 PoPs in Africa. Meanwhile, the company has invested in the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 Cable System and the SEA-ME-WE-5 Cable System, high-speed communication network connecting Asia, Europe and Africa.

The South Atlantic Inter Link submarine cable, also known as SAIL, has been jointly invested in by Cameroon Telecom and China Unicom. The submarine cable connects Cameroon and Brazil, and to date is the first transmission fiber cable connecting Africa and South America.

The expansion in Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa, on infrastructural connectivity will make contribution greatly to the development of China-African economic and trade cooperation, and benefit of the collaborations of countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

With information technology and telecom infrastructure development being the driving force for digital transformation, China Unicom said it will devote more efforts toward the development of Africa's digital economy and build a market-oriented, international and professional operating system to accelerate global business expansion.

China Unicom's presence in South Africa, together with its 29 global subsidiaries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, Europe and Australia, will work closely to provide reliable end-to-end global integrated services and solutions, including global connectivity services, internet access, ICT services, cloud, internet of things, video conferencing, unified communications, content and security services, and premium voice and mobility services for both local and global customers.