CC image courtesy of USAF Civil Engineering on Flickr
Liquid Telecom Rwanda will invest US $34 million in laying thousands of kilometres of new fibre across the country and to the borders of neighbouring Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
With the new fibre, it will be possible for more businesses and homes to access Liquid Telecom’s broadband service not to mention the fact that operators in neighbouring countries will be able to interconnect with Liquid Telecom Rwanda’s network for additional security, backup for Uganda and an alternative routing option through Tanzania.
As part of the expansion plan, and following a successful rollout at Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe, Liquid Telecom Rwanda will be the first company in Rwanda to lay extensive Fibre To The Home (FTTH) starting in the capital city of Kigali where it has already built a metropolitan fibre ring.
Sam Nkusi, Chairman Liquid Telecom Rwanda, said “We are an ambitious company which is investing heavily in laying new fibre across the nation and direct to people’s doors. We are building a 21st century network which will help our country continue to grow and prosper.”
The FTTH service will be available from Liquid Telecom Rwanda’s retail business and will offer speeds of up to 100Mbps which, combined with unlimited capacity, will provide home connections comparable to large multinational corporations enabling usage such as high definition video, live TV streaming, uninterrupted VoIP calling, real-time online gaming and both uploading and downloading of large files.
Future plans for the FTTH service include offering value-added and OTT services similar to those currently launching in Zimbabwe.
Homes and businesses in the country have traditionally used a combination of WiMAX, dongles, satellite and mobile broadband but will now be able to connect using fibre laid directly to the premises.
