INTERGRATED Communications provider Telkom Kenya has announced that it is on course to connect Africa through its vast fibre optic network.
Telkom Kenya said it is in the final stages of connecting its fibre optic network to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Somalia and Sudan through its “Backhaul Focus”, before moving into other countries.
Speaking during the ongoing African Peering and Interconnection Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, deputy chief executive officer Jane Karuku said Telkom Kenya is the hub for submarine connections in the East Africa region, and will use its strategic position to serve the rest of the continent.
“As you already know Telkom Kenya has the largest fibre optic infrastructure on the continent,” Karuku told the meeting.
“We have shareholding in the EASSy and TEAMS cables. Next year, we will launch the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION), and all these networks give us sufficient capacity and redundancy to support the carrier-to-carrier business into and out of Kenya.”
She added that Telkom Kenya was already serving a substantial number of Kenyan organisations well using the company’s fibre optic infrastructure and the government owned National Optic Fibre Backbone Initiative (NOFBI) that is maintained by Telkom Kenya.
She however bemoaned the fact that their existing fibre optic network was under constant threat from vandalism and appealed to authorities to intensify the fight against the vice.
“On a day-to-day basis, a lot of resources that could have otherwise been used to extend the network are diverted to repairing cables that are vandalised. This should come to an end for the citizens of this country and the rest of the continent to reap the maximum benefits from the fibre optic infrastructure”, she said.
The African Peering and interconnection Forum is organised by the Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK), and has brought together Information Communication Technology professionals from different countries under the theme “Unlocking Africa’s Regional Interconnection”.
