Geoffrey Irungu
7 June 2005
Nairobi — A new internet gateway firm, UUNet Communications, is set to roll out services at an initial cost of Sh160 million this month.
The firm is a subsidiary of UUNet Kenya, and the money is short term financing setup and operations, with more investment planned for later, depending on market growth and the needs of the firm's clientele.
Internet backbone providers are licensed to provide global data services to licensed operators.
Besides internet service providers, licensed multinationals can use the backbone to transmit data.
UUNet Communications has partnered with other companies, including Intelsat and General Dynamics, which are providing the required technology.
The first roll out of services will be in early June, with the implementation of the Mombasa node. Thereafter, the company will activate its Nairobi earth station in July.
It also plans to install an additional antenna in Nairobi, which will use a different satellite and land at a different teleport.
Depending on the demand, says UUNet Communications general manager, Robert Kariuki, there is a possibility of installing a node in Western Kenya in either Eldoret or Kisumu.
Reliability of backbone services has been an issue in Kenya, because Telkom Kenya's sister company Jambonet has suffered regular service breakdowns, seriously inconveniencing users.
One of the main problems with Jambonet's service is that it is provided by two earth stations, each with its own problems, says Mr Kariuki.
He adds that the connectivity to the Kericho earth station is via multiple microwave links, each of which is a possible point of failure.
The Longonot earth station is connected via fibre optic cable which means the connectivity is good, but the earth station itself is very old having being installed in the 70's.
Mr Kariuki says that UUNet has designed its network such that the earth stations are close to major traffic nodes thus reducing the points of failure.
"The earth stations themselves are either fully redundant, or have a full set of spares on site. We also have people stationed at these locations to ensure that a fault gets immediate attention," he says.
The firm will initially use staff from its affiliate company UUNet Kenya who have experience and market knowledge. "As the business expands, we are going to look externally for staff who can bring in skills, knowledge or experience that adds value to our operations," he says.
UUNet Kenya set up UUNet Communications, due to the new regulatory structure, which distinguishes between network service providers and application providers. The company is taking advantage of the liberalised telecommunications business, following the expiry of Telkom Kenya's monopoly in June 2004.
What marks out the firm in the emerging industry is that it has a global communications network of MCI, which is a global provider of internet protocol services. MCI is one of the largest in IP business in the world. "Owning the network allows us to design solutions for customers that are very specific to their needs other than offering them a generic off-the-shelf product," Mr Kariuki says.
Two other companies were licensed before UUNet Communications, but the licence runs for 15 years. A key grievance that gateway firms have is that the start-up costs are made particularly high by the licence fees and taxes.
UUNet Communications spent Sh21 million in licence fees and duties even before it had billed its first customer.
Mr Kariuki opines that the Government should give incentives to investors in this sector, to enable them to build telecommunications infrastructure.
The lack of a comprehensive ICT policy in the country means that everyone is operating on their own rather than working together to leverage on each other's strengths.
The policy is currently under discussion among the various interested parties.
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