On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 2:27 PM, Kevin Ouma<
kevin.ouma@gmail.com> wrote:
> - The Kenya IP PoP Will Link East African Users to Europe and South Africa
> as well as to Asia and India via the SEACOM Cable System
>
> Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications,
> and AccessKenya Group, Kenya's first publicly listed ICT company and leading
> corporate Internet service provider, today announced that they have signed a
> partnership agreement to establish a Tier 1 Internet Point-of-Presence (PoP)
> for Tata Communications in Nairobi, Kenya.
>
> As a global Tier1 IP provider with 1.5Tbps meshed network built on 10G
> backbones, Tata Communications is one of the world's leading carriers of
> Internet traffic. Tata Communications is also the number one provider out of
> Kenya for global internet connectivity to local carriers, service providers
> and mobile operators *. By building a PoP in Kenya, Tata Communications will
> be able to offer Internet and other service providers access to one of the
> most dynamically routed and high performance global IP networks for service
> delivery.
>
> The IP PoP is configured to automatically offer redundant paths for Internet
> traffic going north towards Europe and southwards to South Africa well as to
> Asia and India over the SEACOM cable system. Should there be a fiber cut on
> the route to London, for example, traffic will be diverted through South
> Africa to ensure that customer services are not disrupted.
>
> Besides resilience, service providers purchasing bandwidth from the Kenya
> PoP will be able to benefit from the higher speeds and direct links offered
> by the new connection. Previously, in order for service providers in Kenya
> to offer Internet links to Asia or South Africa, they needed to buy
> international fiber through a cable network to London, meaning all traffic
> would be routed through London rather than through a more direct route.
>
> "We are delighted to have been chosen by Tata Communications to partner with
> them for the establishment of the first Tier 1 Internet PoP in Kenya " said
> Jonathan Somen, AccessKenya Group Managing Director. "Tata Communications is
> one of the world's largest carriers of international data traffic and for
> them to set up a PoP in Kenya puts us on the global connectivity map.
> AccessKenya has already signed up as the first customer on the jointly
> launched PoP to enable our customers to benefit from the new connectivity."
>
> Claude Sassoulas, Managing Director for Global Data Solutions at Tata
> Communications, said: "Tata Communications is well established in the
> African market and has been providing Internet access to ISPs for over 10
> years in Kenya and other African countries, via the acquisition of
> Teleglobe. We are pleased to be able to draw on AccessKenya's data expertise
> in the establishment of the PoP."
>