Kenya to join the high speed internet world

23 Mar 2009

With bated breath many in this tech-savvy East African country have been waiting to join the world of high speed internet connection. The digital divide is about to be reduced, thanks to the imminent arrival of fibre-optic cables on Kenyan shores this June.

Image Source: Sabtronics Systems Inc.

So important is this event for a lot of businesses who have been left behind by their global counterparts that they have already started buying bandwidth. The cable will connect South Africa to Mombasa and another is expected to connect Sharjah, UAE to the same port.

According to local dailies the effort is a combination of Kenyan investors, Kenya Data Networks and Seacom, a foreign company. They have promised to launch on 27 June. Kenya Data Networks has lowered its price from about three million shillings for 1GB of satellite communication to about 400,000 shillings. This is a welcome gesture as many here expected a drop in internet services.

The telecommunications sector will be a major beneficiary especially with data provision and internet access on mobile phones being the next frontier. Businesses that could not have web conferencing will enjoy this advantageous service. The government of Kenya which seeks to establish digital villages across the country cannot be left behind with this development. The digital age is going to unveil itself in Kenya at a higher rate than envisaged before - a development to be welcomed by all.