Fibre optic cable to spur economic development
The installation of an undersea fibre optic cable, the East African Marine Systems (TEAMS) is expected to boost trade in and out of the country and consequently spur economic development for the East African region.
The cable, which is expected to be released in 2008, will also enable Kenyans to enjoy high speed and low connection charges. During this year's budget for example, Sh.1 billion was set aside to speed up the laying of the fibre optic cable.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of information and communication Bitange Ndemo lauded the speed with which the project is being undertaken, saying that it would boost ICTs infrastructure in the country,"This will increase the speed and reduce the connection charges. It will also enable the government to undertake E-government and other E-businesses effectively."
Ideally, the installation of the fibre optic cable will significantly reduce the cost of connection for local and international voice and data traffic. Kenya currently uses satellite communications technology, which charges three times the mean global charges. While the average charges are $200 per megabite, satellite charges are between $600 and $750. Ironically, making calls to neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Tanzania much more expensive than calling the US or UK.
"The laying of the cable will reverse the current scenario of high connection rates of both local and international voice." Bitange laments that Kenya has lost out particularly to Asia due to exorbitant connection charges.
The TEAMS project was initiated by the Kenyan government with the help of the Dubai based Telecommunications Company Etisalat but calls upon Telecom operators from East Africa to give a hand in funding of the cable system have also been made. Talking to HANA on telephone, Ndemo refuted claims that Kenya was unable to put up the amount of money required for the project. He hastened to say that the Kenyan government had given the communications regulator CCK a tune of US $15 billion to help kick-start the initial laying down of the undersea cable.
"Even though this is the Kenyan government?s initiative, we advocate for a public private partnership because the long-term effect would be felt by all East Africans," he said.
Kenya was however short of US$90 million needed to complete the project, hence lobbying for financial assistance from Telecom operators in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
The TEAMS project was developed by Kenya following disagreements over the ownership and funding structure of The East Africa Submarine Cable Systems (EASSY).
A study undertaken by the World Economic Forum, ranks Kenya 12th in ICTs development in Africa, behind Uganda and Tanzania. This means that Kenya needs to leapfrog its ICT development by making ICTs a frontier for economic development in the country. Besides, the majority of Kenyans are optimistic that once the fibre is installed, more jobs will be created.
All is not gloom as a recent medium term review of the Economic Recovery Strategy indicates that ICT is amongst the fastest growing sectors, registering 11.8% growth against a target of 5% between 2003 and June 2006. In the Internet sector, the number of Internet service providers has increased from 66 to 78 during the same period.
According to industry analysts, the lack of a fibre optic cable in Kenya has made it difficult to attract large BPO and call centre projects in the country. This is attributed to high bandwidth charges and latent delays in voice calls.
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