Allied Technologies (Altech) may make use of its ECNS licence to roll out infrastructure in SA.
The company released a statement this morning, saying the knowledge and experience gained through the roll-out of fibre across East Africa “is available for utilisation in SA and applicable to its newly-acquired I-ECNS licence”.
The company's Kenya Data Networks (KDN) has been establishing infrastructure across East Africa, the latest of which is a 1 500km fibre backbone from the Kenyan city of Mombasa to Kampala, in Uganda.
The company says it plans to add 400km of underground cable from Kampala to Kigali, Rwanda, which will bring the project to a total of 6 000km of cable.
“Altech is proud to be associated with this project. East Africa is a region with explosive growth prospects as far as technology and broadband provision are concerned. The imminent landing of a number of undersea cables will provide the bandwidth needed to create an East African broadband network.
“Broadband demand in East Africa is expected to increase tenfold over the next three years. The project will unlock land-locked countries, like Uganda and Rwanda, by connecting them to the undersea cables via KDN's terrestrial fibre,” says Altech CEO Craig Venter.
The company also recently invested in Teams, the East African undersea cable, which will be connected to the KDN network in East Africa. “KDN considers the undersea cables crucial to the region's advancement and will continue to invest heavily in infrastructure as part of its vision to connect people with high-quality and affordable services,” says KDN MD Kai Wulff.
KDN laid its first fibre-optic cable in Nairobi in 2005. “Soon, we will have laid cable throughout East Africa and, from there, we have the entire African continent in our sights,” adds Wulff.
The pudding
Altech's strides in East African broadband prove it has the capability to compete effectively in Internet services and infrastructure.
According to Frost & Sullivan ICT industry analyst Lindsey Mc Donald, Altech's ECNS licence will open an important area of growth for the company. “To take full advantage of this licence, Altech will need to build additional infrastructure. This will require additional finance, and the cost of borrowing money has increased. This increases the potential risk,” she says.
Mc Donald adds the acquisitions made in East Africa are paying off handsomely for Altech, with expectations that the region will continue to grow by between 15% and 20% annually, for at least the next three years.
“Altech is in key countries like Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, so it has the region well covered. There are signs that East Africa is growing more volatile, but there will still be growth, especially once the global crisis subsides. As more international companies look to Africa for growth, Altech is already well established to offer the services they will be looking for,” she notes.
Altech also recently acquired Internet service provider Technology Concepts, which has hinted at the possibility of laying infrastructure.
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