The Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE 1) Sub Marine Cable is now in Mombasa

• DARE1 is a $86 M investment;
• The 36TB cable will provide additional transmission options in the country and the greater East Africa region;
• DARE1 has the largest cable capacity amongst all cables that have made landing at the port of Mombasa.

Mombasa, 7^th March 2020…Telkom Kenya has landed the Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE 1) submarine cable in Mombasa. The DARE 1 cable will now offer a strategic alternative in the routing of traffic as well as the handling of increased capacity to East Africa.

DARE1 is the dedicated work of a consortium consisting of Telkom Kenya, Somtel – a private Telecoms operator in Somalia, and Djibouti Telecom, to boost connectivity and data access in the region, with eventual gains being realised for the end consumer.

Managing Director, Carrier Services Division at Telkom Kenya, Mr. Kebaso MOKOGI says:

“A decade after the landing of the first sub-marine cable in Kenya, DARE 1 not only brings a unique investment opportunity to the country but unrivalled redundant international connection on newer technology, as we seek to strengthen our value proposition to our customers. In addition, as a Telco, we play a strategic role in the development of critical infrastructure to support the advancement of Kenya and the region into digital economies.”

The DARE 1 sub-sea cable is a 3-fiber pair, with a capacity of 36TB each. Kenya has access to both, one an express route from Djibouti to Mombasa and the second one terminating into Somalia and then Kenya.

The DARE 1 cable now strategically boosts Mombasa’s position as a co-location hub and a key gateway into East Africa, given the ability to move data quickly and cheaply, via a secure connection with other data centers, looking to gain a footprint in the region. On the other hand, the continued growth in consumer demand for connectivity and data will unlock new markets for Content Development Networks and Over the Top Service Providers to the country.

The Director of International Business at Djibouti Telecom, Mr. Mohamed AHMED says:

“We believe that this investment will catalyze the advent of many more cables, especially to businesses looking to commoditize data in Kenya. As technology gets more sophisticated, we are constantly looking at less costly and more efficient alternatives and this is a good example of what cooperation can do.”

The fast-rising requirements of cloud-based technology businesses and their customers, as well as the search for the smallest possible delays in transaction times (known as latency) has seen businesses seek alternative data options. The arrival of DARE 1, therefore, becomes part of the critical infrastructure essential to realise these desired efficiencies.

The World Bank posits that for every 10% of the population that is connected to broadband, there is a 1.38% impact to GDP in developing nations. The growth in data is now seen as being driven by service providers with the task of infrastructure provision left in the hands of Telcos.

The DARE 1 idea was mooted in 2018, paving way for a year-long planning process to chart the cable route from Djibouti to Kenya. By March 2019, the process towards the reception of all the requisite territorial and environmental permits was well underway and concluded in October 2019, when cable laying experts, SubCom began the manufacture of the cable. The process of building and laying of the DARE 1 cable has been ongoing for the past three months before its landing in Mombasa, today. Telkom Kenya will now take up the task of laying and managing the inland fiber optic cabling to various terrestrial locations across the country.

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About Djibouti Telecom

Djibouti Telecom SA is the primary telecommunications company of Djibouti, providing landline, mobile and Internet services. The company is headquartered in Djibouti City, Djibouti. Djibouti Telecom was founded in 1999 and has ever since established itself as a regional hub responsible for delivering a complete portfolio of voice, data/IP and capacity services over state-of-the-art network infrastructure that reaches out to eastern and southern Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Djibouti Telecom is now the leading strategic hub for international telecommunications services in East Africa and Host seven International Cables. Visit: https://international.djiboutitelecom.dj

About Telkom Kenya

Telkom connects the people that keep Kenya on the move. It does this by providing integrated telecommunications solutions to individuals, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Government and large corporates in Kenya, drawing from a diverse solutions suite that includes voice, data, mobile money as well as network services. Powered by its vast fibre optic infrastructure, it is also a major provider of wholesale carrier-to-carrier traffic, within the country and the region.

Telkom is building on strong, consumer-centric ethos that is committed to providing innovative, accessible and refreshingly simple communications solutions that suit customers’ everyday communication needs.

Established as a telecommunications operator in April 1999, Telkom is 60 per cent owned by Helios Investment Partners, with the remaining stake held by Kenyans through the Government of Kenya. Telkom Kenya owns a 23% stake in TEAMS, a 5,000km undersea fibre optic cable through Fujairah, UAE; a 10% stake in LION2 another 2,700km undersea fibre optic cable through Mauritius. It also owns a 2.6% stake in the East African Submarine System Cable and manages the National Optic Fibre Backbone, an inland fibre optic cable network running through Kenyan counties. The arrival of DARE 1 with Telkom as the landing partner further reinforces its role in the management of the National Optic Fibre Backbone.

Please visit www.telkom.co.ke to get to know more about Telkom.