The government has moved to ensure that Kenyans pay less for data bundles.
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, the government launched a new fibre optic cable that will offer additional broadband to existing Internet service providers.
Information and Communications (ICT) Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru witnessed the launch which took place in Mombasa.
The CS stated that the cable will not only facilitate faster internet connectivity for Kenyans but also decrease the prices of data bundles.
Notably, the new fibre optic cable will connect Kenya to Europe and parts of Asia. CS Mucheru explained that the cable is called PEACE - Pakistan East Africa China Europe cable.
"This project is important for the country. It allows us to have more capacity and faster connection to Europe and Asia. It's called the PEACE cable and we are happy about this development," CS Mucheru stated.
Telcom CEO Mugo Kibati added that the project is crucial to the country since Kenya is turning into a technology hub for the region.
Kibati as well as noted that after the pandemic, Kenya realized it needed to improve communication and connectivity in order to sustain the economy.
PEACE is the sixth fibre optic cable and has better technical aspects compared to the previous ones, according to the CEO.
"This cable is better when compared to the five previous. Each year technology improves immensely and you can't compare to the first cable which was put in place in 2008," he stated.
The cable has key landing points in France, Pakistan and Kenya, with plans to extend to South Africa in its second phase.
During the environmental impact assessment placed with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Telkom Kenya stated that it was confident that when complete, the high-speed peace cable system will offer the shortest routes interconnecting three of the world’s most populous continents.
According to Telkom Kenya, the undersea cables have huge bandwidth as well as high-speed internet while reducing the cost of connectivity.
The PEACE cable will maintain low-latency connections for data transmission in multiple aspects such as content, cloud, gaming and video streaming platforms.
