As of 1 July 2001, UUNET Kenya will be opening its offices for business in Nairobi and Mombasa. The offices will be headed by East African managing director, Henry Njoroge, and have a staff compliment of about 30 people, including Geoffrey Sihmanyula as sales manager, who are all locally skilled and based.
This office is the first step in the initiation of the UUNET, Africa Online joint venture, which was concluded last year, whereby UUNET will operate in eight countries in Africa within the coming year. Under the terms of the joint venture, UUNET Africa has undertaken the provision of Internet connectivity and corporate network services to major corporations. Additionally, the joint venture cedes Africa Online`s corporate customer base to UUNET.
In Kenya, UUNET will have an existing customer base of about 90 leased line customers, for example Kodak, Firestone and Kenyan Airways and 160 corporate dial-up customers, including, Nairobi Stock Exchange and Toyota. The initial products to be launched are the UUdirect leased line access products and the UUdial corporate dial range, which will give corporate customers a flexible entry point to the Internet and also high-end dedicated connectivity.
"By UUNET entering the market with Africa Online, we are able to bridge the bandwidth barrier directly, as UUNET is able to leverage off its expertise around Internet provision. The cost of bandwidth in Kenya is high and UUNET is committed to bringing a dedicated service of the highest quality that is flexible enough to meet the growing demands of the country. Additionally, our affiliation with WorldCom will enable us to provide a larger product set, that will be adapted for the local market," says Guy Clarke, UUNET sales director for Africa.
UUNET Kenya has obtained its independent ISP licence and will therefore be able to sell Internet services directly, however it will work closely with the telecommunications authority to ensure regulations and policy framework is followed.
"Due to the established nature of the market, we expect the office to be profitable by year end. Additionally, we have already had many South African and international companies express interest in conducting business with us, as they are excited about the type of service levels that UUNET is able to bring to the market, for example, we have concluded deals with ICL and MedX. This office will further entrench UUNET`s position as the only IPS that are actually rolling out services in Africa, as we are committed to becoming a true African company," concludes Clarke.
UUNET SA, a WorldCom company, is Southern Africa`s only pan-African provider of Internet-based network services and the largest global carrier of Internet traffic in Africa. The company provides Internet connectivity and corporate network services to major corporations as well as access services to Internet Service Providers.
All UUNET SA products and services are delivered within the required regulatory conditions.
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