Djibouti African Regional Express (DARE 1), the 4,854 km undersea fibre optic is expected to be completed by June next year and its landing point in Kenya will be managed by Telkom Kenya.
“Telkom is excited to be the landing party in Nyali, Mombasa, with the DARE1 consortium, considering the benefits it has in store for the country. This investment will offer diversity in the routing of traffic and will also provide for fibre continuity, cognisant of the risk at the high seas. The development of regional backbones such as the DARE1 will also increase access to data in the region, with eventual gains being realized on cost for the end consumer,” says Telkom Kenya’s MD for Carrier Services, Kebaso Mokiongi.
“The system is on track to be ready for commercial traffic in June 2020,” the venture partners were quoted as saying. they also said that the manufacturing aspects are complete and the remaining works are progressing.
The completion of the project will add to Telkom Kenya’s stake in various undersea cable infrastructures. They own 2.6% stake of EASSy, 10% stake in LION 2 and a 23% stake in TEAMS. They also operate the National Optic Fibre Backbone which is a project aimed to ensure connectivity in all the 47 counties of Kenya.
The DARE1 system is reported to have cost KES 8.6 billion (about $86 million) and Mombasa is one of the 4 landing stations in East Africa.
The 36 Terabit system is geared to enhanced communication and connection with other cable systems. The great thing about it is that it will provide a redundant international connection for Kenya.
