NEC has announced an improvement of microwave links for the Tanzania Telecommunications Company (TTCL), connecting six rural and island locations to double mobile network capacity, in a deal worth $1.6 million, reports Telecompaper.com. TTCL is using NEC\'s iPasolink 400, 1,000 and 5,000 iPS systems, which support a hybrid TDM and IP-based mobile backhaul service. This allows the operator to continue to leverage investments in existing TDM systems for voice traffic and use Ethernet for data, with the option of transitioning to an all-IP network in the future.

The system can also support the expansion of LTE network services when required with minimal capacity upgrades. It features Ethernet Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) for performance monitoring and fault isolation and troubleshooting to ensure system resilience, uptime and a consistently high QoS. The government has inaugurated the route from Dar es Salaam, its main economic center, to the island of Zanzibar. Further connections from Shinyanga to Maswa in the north and Mikumi to Kidatu in southern Tanzania are planned to open soon.