Safaricom has partnered with the Kenya Electricity Transmission company in an initiative that will see customers in the coastal region get better services.
For the next five years, the telecommunication company will lease two of KETRACO’s fibres in each of the 47Km 132kV Rabai – Galu and 320km 220kV Rabai – Malindi – Garsen – Lamu transmission lines.
Safaricom is also eyeing enormous opportunities that will be presented by the Kes 1.5 trillion Lamu port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSET) project which will add onto its wholesale business.
The company’s CEO Bob Collymore cited on the budget set aside being in excess of 33.7 billion not only to extend the 3G and 4G footprint but also to fix any outstanding issues in the network.
Collymore said, “The additional capacity also complements our more than 2,000 kilometre fibre capacity that has enabled us offer more reliable integrated services across the country. As we speak, more than 30% of our base stations are connected to the fibre.”
KETRACO was granted a Network Facility Provider Tier 2 (NFPT2) License by Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) in 2014, allowing it to lease out fibre to licensed Application and Content Service Providers as a way of diversifying the company’s revenue base.
Through KETRACO’s transmission lines traversing the whole country and region, Safaricom’s fibre will be connected to the national fibre backbone creating a resilient web with sufficient protection. In return, licensed service providers will benefit from reliable service with less latency.
Currently, KETRACO is implementing various projects comprising of approximately 3,256km electricity transmission lines- with concurrent fibre connectivity. The major projects include the 400kV Mombasa- Nairobi, 220kV Olkaria- Suswa transmission lines.
