Kenya has received its fifth undersea fibre optic cable which landed at the coast of Mombasa last week. Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE 1) follows SEACOM, Easts African Marine Cable System(TEAMS), Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASsy) and Lion2, which have been available in the country for some time now.
DARE1 delivers data speeds of 36-Terabytes, which takes the crown as the fastest undersea cable in the country. The new fibre optic cable will help boost internet speeds in the country as well as reducing the cost of data. The cable links Djibouti, Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Bosaso.
Speaking on the same, Telkom Kenya managing director of carrier services George Kebaso said, “DARE 1 not only brings an investment opportunity but unrivalled redundant international connection on newer technology as we seek to continuity for businesses.”
The project was mooted last year by a consortium of three companies, including Telkom Kenya, Djibouti Telecom and Somtel – a private Telecoms operator, costing a total of Ksh 8.6 billion.
To Telkom Kenya, DARE1 cements the telco’s position in the country considering it owns stakes in other undersea cables available in the country like TEAMS, EASsy and LION2.
DARE1 is a 3-fibre pair cable offering 36TB data speeds each and has a lifetime of 20 years. The undersea cable covers 5400 kilometres, which took 45 days to lay down from Djibouti.
DARE1 places Kenya is in a sweet spot with both access from one which runs from Djibouti to Mombasa, and another one which terminates into Somalia and then Kenya.
Now that the cable is in Mombasa, which holds a place as a regional hub in most ways, the remaining work will be done by Telkom Kenya which involves laying and managing the fibre optic cable inland.
As a result, the 36TB fibre optic cable is expected to be ready for the market in the next few months.
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