Since 2020, the demand for high-speed connectivity and the amount of data traffic have been growing across the African continent. In Kenya, the authorities are investing in the strengthening of telecom infrastructure to respond effectively to this demand.
Kenya is now connected to its sixth fiber optic submarine cable system. The Pakistan & East Africa Connecting Europe (PEACE) system, which connects Asia with Europe and Africa, landed on the shores of the port city of Mombasa on Tuesday (March 29). The new infrastructure will be operated and maintained by Telkom Kenya as the local partner of PEACE Cable International Network Co Limited.
15,000 km long, the PEACE system incorporates the latest technologies in submarine cables into its design. This allows it to transmit more than 16 terabits of data per second per fiber pair. The infrastructure has an estimated lifespan of 25 years. “ This ultra-high capacity cable will help Kenya and the region meet their current and future broadband capacity needs, build redundancy, minimize connectivity transit time from our country to the Asia and Europe, as well as helping operators deliver affordable services to Kenyans ,” said Mugo Kibati, CEO of Telkom.
Telkom Kenya began preparations for its connection to the PEACE cable as early as August 2021. Integration acceptance tests conducted for this purpose on August 13 were successful. The telecom company then set itself the goal of completing the entire operation before the end of the year in order to bring the new telecom infrastructure into service in the first quarter of 2022. The investment in the PEACE cable reflects the strong demand for connectivity broadband and the acceleration of digital transformation induced since 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic across Africa.
According to Joseph Mucheru, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, this new project promises faster, cheaper and more secure Internet connectivity, for a more efficient digital economy. Telkom should use its new data capacities drawn from the telecom infrastructure to attract new consumers and improve its position in a Kenyan telecom market largely dominated by Safaricom.