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Firm aims to up internet speeds, lower costs in Africa [Cape Times (South Africa)]
[October 22, 2014]

Firm aims to up internet speeds, lower costs in Africa [Cape Times (South Africa)]


(Cape Times (South Africa) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) DUBAI: Internet access in east Africa is still relatively slow and costly but a Djibouti-based technology start-up company has ambitions to help change that.

Djibouti Data Centre set up by a group of local and international investors 18 months ago, is the first data centre |and internet exchange in east Africa connected to eight fibre optic cables that are part of the main internet route from Europe to Asia.



The internet route travels through the Mediterranean, Red Sea and into the Indian Ocean, passing by tiny Djibouti, which is sandwiched between Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia.

African internet users have typically enjoyed little benefit from these cables passing along its coast because connectivity to them has been |limited, something Djibouti Data Centre aims to correct as it plans to expand from its home base into Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia, which are all at varying stages of internet development.


"The Djibouti market itself may be small, but the Djibouti Data Centre serves as a unique gateway hub to the many millions of customers in these neighbouring east Africa countries," said Anthony Voscarides, chief executive of Djibouti Data Centre.

The company launched services in March 2013 in partnership with Djibouti Telecom and will connect to at least three more cables on the Europe/Asia route next year.

"Africa has historically been challenged by high internet costs," Voscarides, an Australian former telecoms industry executive, said.

According to The Internet Society, 15.7 percent of Kenya's average GDP per capita is required for broadband access, compared to 6.1 percent in South Africa and less than 2 percent in most of Europe.

In Ethiopia the figure rises to 60.4 percent while in Uganda it is 31 percent and 7.4 percent in Sudan.

Kenya is the biggest market in the region with internet penetration of 39 percent, the fourth-highest in Africa, according to the International Telecommunications Union.

In terms of median download speeds, however, Kenya is ranked 105th globally, while Ethiopia is 94th, Sudan 154th and South Africa is 116th, according to the Internet Society. Madagascar is the highest ranked African country at 61.

Voscarides did not give estimates of how much connectivity could be improved or cost reduced.

Djibouti Data Centre's customers include MTN, Belgacom International Carrier Services and Telkom SA, which can house data at DDC in Djibouti, which connects to the cables running north towards Europe and east towards Asia.

Voscarides said Djibouti Data Centre had been "designed to not only reduce costs for operators, but to also add significant value by being a tool for carriers, content providers and other service providers to improve the efficiency, resilience and performance of their networks." Government regulatory policies and the deployment of new technologies could affect the timing of the company's expansion plans, he said.

Voscarides did not give dates for the expansion into new markets.

- Reuters Cape Times (c) 2014 Independent Newspapers (Pty) Limited. All rights strictly reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

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