Telcos to rent KPLC cables

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company will earn half a billion shillings for leasing its extra fibre optic cable capacity to three telecommunication companies in Kenya, a move expected to raise the stakes in the data provision market.

This will also unlock internet potential and help reduce incidents of cable vandalism that have become the main threat to the industry.

Listed mobile phone operator, Safaricom, will take up a pair of the fibres in a 20-year lease on the Nairobi-Mombasa line for Sh288 million, while Wananchi group and Jamii Telecommunications Ltd, in a five-year renewable lease of one pair of fibres each, will pay Sh27 million per year.

Complement

“With this new fibre system, we are entering a new realm as a data carrier. This will be a major complement to the massive investments we have made in the country’s main undersea cable ventures,” said Mr Michael Joseph, Safaricom chief executive. 

Mr Joseph said the new system is unlikely to be susceptible to cable cuts as much as terrestrial cables.

“The incessant cuts, which have become a major problem for the country’s nascent fibre optic networks, have occasioned operators and their customers huge losses in downtime and repairs,” he said.

Wananchi group intends to expand coverage of its Zuku triple play product to launch cable television for the mass market.

Safaricom said it will review its relationship with existing carriers and select options that offer the firm the best redundancy options.

The firm currently has existing contracts with cable providers KDN, Telkom Kenya and Jamii Telecoms.

The KPLC fibre optic cable project is part of a Sh10 billion Energy Sector Recovery Project, started in 2006.

At a cost of Sh1.9 billion, the programme entails installation of fibre on the firm’s transmission lines, thereby forming a national fibre optic backbone.

The cable network covers routes from Kipevu in Mombasa to Nairobi and from Nairobi to parts of the Mount Kenya Region to Eldoret and Eldoret through to, Muhoroni, Kisii and ultimately to Tororo in Uganda. 

All the routes will be ready for use by June 2010, while the key one to Tororo is expected to be ready by March 2010.

Meanwhile, KPLC is set to have a new look as it spearheads a re-branding and organisational culture change programme.

To meet this goal, the company has appointed a consortium of consultants — Ogilvy East Africa, McKinney Rogers and SBO Research — to develop and rollout a strategy and implementation programme.

Mr Joseph Njoroge, managing director Kenya Power and Lighting Company, said the appointment signals the beginning of a new chapter that will see the firm aggressively re-evaluate its existing identity, prevailing corporate culture and vision, among key players.