Connectivity News 23 February 2025 - 24 February 2025

The Ministry of Communications (MoC) controls the national fiber backbone and international gateways and leases bandwidth to private ISPs at wholesale prices around $50 per 1 Mbps. As of 2021, Iraq had about 2.1 million fixed-line/FTTH subscribers, with most of the deployment concentrated in Baghdad. Iraq has over 40 million mobile subscriptions, with 4G LTE launched in January 2021 across Zain Iraq, Asiacell, and Korek, reaching approximately 98% of the population by 2023. By early 2024, about 36.2 million Iraqis were internet users, representing 78–79% of the population. The Iraqi National Backbone project, led by Earthlink and Nokia, will span

Mobile subscriptions grew from zero in 2001 to nearly 100% penetration by 2021. A nationwide fiber-optic backbone was being rolled out, including a 400 km cross-border fiber link to China via the Wakhan Corridor that was near completion in 2021. The Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 stalled or halted many fiber and broader connectivity projects. The five dominant providers are Afghan Telecom (Aftel/Salam), AWCC, Roshan, Etisalat Afghanistan, and MTN Afghanistan, with MTN planning to exit the Afghan market. An Internet Exchange Point (IXP) was established in Kabul to route local traffic domestically. Since August 2021, Taliban authorities blocked

Over 4,200 ISPs were registered in August 2024, with Kyivstar leading the market at about 19%, Vodafone Ukraine around 9%, and Lifecell around 5%. Ukraine has 52 active data centers and 24 IXPs, and about 63% of popular content is cached within the country. Starlink became a pivotal connectivity lifeline during the war, with SpaceX granted an official operator license as provider #1 in April 2022 and roughly 42,000 terminals in use by 2023. There were about 55.6 million active cellular connections in 2024, equal to 149% of the population. As of early 2024, median fixed broadband speed was about

Mozambique’s internet infrastructure is heavily mobile-dominated, with three main operators—Vodacom Mozambique (about 50% market share), Movitel, and Tmcel—while fixed-line broadband remains minimal. Tmcel has accumulated over $400 million in debt and is undergoing restructuring to avoid bankruptcy. Mozambique is connected to SEACOM and EASSy submarine cables, landed in 2009–2010, and the 2Africa subsea cable landed in Maputo and Nacala in 2023. MozIX Internet Exchange Point keeps local traffic within Mozambique. <li Vodacom launched Mozambique's first limited 5G service in Maputo in 2023, with plans to extend coverage to about 75% of the population by 2025. 3G/4G networks cover most urban