Seacom fibre optic cable to Tanzania

On July 23 President Kikwete pressed a knob to inaugurate the Seacom International undersea fibre optic network in Dar. It is expected to revolutionise internet and telecommunication services in the country by improving efficiency and easing the current costs by over one third. He noted that the Eastern African coast had been the longest coastline in the world without optic fibre cable connections to the rest of the world. “Today, this is history,” he declared. However, he said the landing of the cable on Tanzanian shores could only be useful if there was a terrestrial link to pull it further inland to the masses of users. “We already have some existing network with Tanesco, Tanzania Railways Limited and the Songo Songo gas pipeline, but we have been working on a wider network to cover the whole country,” he said. The President added that the government had secured part of the financing and work had started on laying the National Optic Fibre Cable (OFC) network covering a distance of 10,674 kilometers – Guardian.