Seacom, a privately-funded venture that aims to greatly boost Africa’s broadband capacity, Tuesday said it has entered partnerships with operators in Uganda and Rwanda to extend its reach across the east of the continent. Uganda Telecom Ltd. and Rwandatel SA, both subsidiaries of Libyan African Investment Portfolio, have purchased international broadband capacity from Seacom, the company said. In turn, it said it has struck a deal to make use of the terrestrial networks between Kampala and Kigali. “From the outset of this project, we realized the importance of connecting inland countries to our international network,” said Brian Herlihy, chief executive of Seacom. Uganda has been connected to Seacom’s network since its commercial launch in July, and the company said Rwanda will connect to the new broadband capacity from September.
Seacom is building a fiber-optic cable that will connect east and south Africa with India and Europe and provide retail telecommunications carriers with open access to its bandwidth.
The company is more than 76% owned by an arm of Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, Venfin Ltd., Convergence Partners and Shanduka Group. The remainder is owned by Herakles Telecom LLC
Source: TotalTele
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