Tata Communications has expanded its reach into Tanzania by partnering with data services provider Infinity Africa, which extends the reach of its IP network further into East Africa.
This step follows its establishment of a point of presence (POP) in Kenya, six months ago, as part of its commitment to emerging markets.
Tata says it has been providing Internet and voice services in Tanzania for over 10 years. The POP in Dar-es-Salaam offers tier 1 IP services in Tanzania and will enable local service providers to offer highly resilient Internet access.
It adds that the new POP at Dar-es-Salaam is configured to automatically offer redundant paths for all traffic going towards the global Internet, via Europe and SA. This redundancy is specifically designed to ensure continuity of service in case of network outages, which Tata says many operators recently faced when the Seacom cable failed.
“In addition, service providers will have the added advantages of greater scalability, flexibility and lower latency to SA and Kenya,” says Tata.
Moving East
Claude Sassoulas, MD Europe and Africa at Tata Communications, says: “Tata Communications' expansion into East Africa and its presence in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, will bring the Internet closer to the local enterprise and provide users with direct access to one of the most dynamically routed and high-performance global IP networks. Tata Communications in East Africa provides a resilient and diverse backbone with connectivity between Kenya and Tanzania to South Africa.”
Sassoulas adds that Tata is leveraging the arrival of new submarine cable infrastructure to expand into the East African region. “The new infrastructure has already enabled a significant growth of Internet traffic, and local service providers are deploying access in the main cities. Kenya had the fourth largest population of Internet users (three million) in 2008 for sub-Sahara Africa, and will continue to grow fast. There is great potential in this region.”
Kenya and Tanzania, being connected to submarine infrastructure, will also attract Internet traffic from neighbouring countries, and Tata's objective is to aggregate this traffic on its points of presence in the region, says Sassoulas. “We are also seeing an increased demand from our global enterprise customers for connectivity services in East Africa.”
Addressing WEF discussions
Tata says this move is in line with World Economic Forum (WEF) discussions on how to unlock Africa's growth potential.
Sassoulas says bringing high-speed Internet and resilient communication networks into Africa will help the continent accelerate its development. “It will become easier for global multinationals to do business and, therefore, their contribution to the economy will be greater. It will also open new opportunities for mobile operators and the associated ecosystem.
“Let's just think about the vast array of services and capabilities that high-speed Internet has brought to developed countries over the last 10 years.”
He adds that emerging markets in Africa are a very strong point for Tata, and it has invested over $400 million in Africa over the last four years.
Unlocking Africa
With regards to Tata's presence in Kenya, Sassoulas says the IP POP has been deployed and customers have already been connected.
“We are also in the process of deploying additional capabilities to offer Ethernet, private lines and MPLS services,” says Sassoulas.
He adds that, through its partners, and as terrestrial infrastructure gets built, Tata plans to address requirements coming from the neighbouring countries such as Uganda or Rwanda.
“Our plan is to look at a new venture every 18 to 24 months. We are constantly evaluating new opportunities in Africa, be they via organic growth, joint ventures or M&As.”
Related story:
Tata to use African cables for 2010
Share