Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, is now deemed the communication centre of the East, Central and Southern African areas after the establishment of the National Fibre Optic cable .
The connection of the installation of the National Fibre Optic cable with the SEACOM cable and Eastern Africa Submarine Cable Systems (EASSy) was confirmed by Florence Turuka, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology at the weekend.
The cable is now connected to all the mainland stations in Tanzania and plans are in progress to link up with the East African Marine System (TEAMS) are also in progress.
The National Fibre Optic cable hosts seven telecommunication companies at the moment, including Vodacom Tanzania, Zantel, Simbanet, Airtel Tanzania and Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL).
It is installed along the main national grid ways with a length of 7,560 km, including 5,448 km by TTCL and 2,112 km by TANESCO and was a joint project between the government ministry and the companies.
Seven other countries benefit from the connections, namely Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda and Msumbiji, with some of their networks connected to the cable.
Turuka said the connection will boost the financial, educational health, agricultural, commercial and tourism sectors.
The communication sector development has lead to the progress of other sectors such as the transport industry, which has now completed the 90km metro network, which is expected to set the standard for five other Tanzanian towns, which will also acquire the system.
Tanzania’s communication sector has grown 50 percent during the past two years and Internet users in the country has risen from 25,000 in 2009 to almost five million in 2012.
