Government to deploy 100,000 Kms of fiber optic infrastructure across the country
The government has announced plans to deploy 100,000 Kms of fibre optic infrastructure across the country. The recommendations are contained in Kenya’s Digital Masterplan 2022-2032 unveiled at the ongoing Connected Summit 2022 in Diani, Kwale County.
The fibre optic cable will be deployed to 40,000 schools and other learning institutions, 20,000 government institutions, 13,000 health facilities.
Speaking at the summit, ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the utilization of technology globally and most nations recognize the strategic importance of ICT as an enabler of economic development.
‘’The Government of Kenya has not been left behind in developing plans meant to accelerate the digital transformation of the country,’’ he said.
The high-speed fibre optic infrastructure according to the CS will provide internet to all schools, government institutions/offices, Metro-cities, health facilities, rural businesses, homes and public spaces.
Already, the government has made some steps and invested in this fracture as proposed in the Kenya ICT Master Plan 2014-2017. This includes the 8,900Km of optic fibre deployed to formerly provincial headquarters, the Counties and sub- Counties; 4,300Km of optic fiber cable along major roads to cover the then eight provincial HQs, and 2,100 Km optic fiber cable installation mainly on metropolitan area networks in all 47 county Headquarters, together with the 2500 Km Optic fiber cable installed mainly to extend the network to 290 sub County headquarters.
The announcement comes at a time when the country’s internet demands continue to grow thanks to digital transformation accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A number of undersea cables have also recently been landing in the country with the recent one being a new 15,000km cable connecting Asia, Europe and Africa that landed in Mombasa, Kenya last week. Telkom Kenya and PEACE Cable successfully landed the new undersea fibre cable to provide the most direct connectivity route from Asia and East Africa to Europe, as well as reducing existing communication delays between the continents.
The PEACE Cable is the sixth submarine cable to land in Kenya, preceded by the Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE 1), SEACOM, The East African Marine System (TEAMS), the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and the Lower Indian Ocean NetWork II (LION II).
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