Kigali — Late last week Korea Telecom (KT) a top integrated communications service provider signed a deal worth $40m with government of Rwanda to build the country's broadband infra-structure which is expected to be completed by December 2009.

The signing of this deal came just days after the World Bank had announced that it had approved $24 million for an international broadband connectivity. While both deals complement each other, the World Bank deal will concentrate on connecting the country's national backbone to the regions backbones in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and to the node of submarine fiber on the coasts.

The Korea Telecom, according to officials in Kigali, would ably concentrate on developing a fibre optic loop around the country that would allow different applications of voice and data exchange.

The Korea Telecom deal service contract was signed last weak by Mr Nkubito Bakuramutsa, the executive director of the Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA) on behalf of the Rwanda government, and the Executive Director of KT, Dr Kim Hansuk.

Rwanda has a population of about 10 million people. According to information from the UN's Internet of Things Statistics Report, the country has only 3 per cent of her residents said to be having access to the Internet.

So what does the signing of a deal worth $40m mean for an ordinary Rwanda? According to the contract agreement signed in the RITA boardroom, it will see the implementation of Rwanda's plan for key broadband infrastructure as entailed in the National Information and Communication Infrastructure plan II (NICI II).

Rwanda's NICI Plan has a goal to support the strengthening of the economic base and improving the economic environment to accelerate development and growth to achieving an information-rich society and economy.

From the details laid in the contract agreement the infrastructure that Korea Telecom is going to set up will consist of a high-speed fiber-optic network that will link 36 main nodes in both Kigali City and all the 30 Rwandan districts.

According to RITA officials, the national backbone, is expected to run on about 2,300 kilometers of cable across the country allowing the exchange of voice, data and video applications between police stations, hospitals, customs offices, immigration and border services, police stations, universities and private institutions.

"The contract will cover the extension of Kigali Metro Network to provide broadband services to 93 government agencies in Kigali and 226 in the 30 districts," said Mr Nkubito. The project will also increase broadband availability to more than 700 Rwandan institutions, including schools, health-care centers and local government administrative centers.

According to Mr Nkubito when complete the national backbone will enable Rwandans to use e-applications and for the government to execute e-services and business and information exchange that need high speed broadband Internet. Officials expect 4 million Rwandans to gain access within the next two to three years.

Working with KT will also provide Rwandans an opportunity to work with an institution that among many successes achieved the world's first commercial wireless mobile broadband service (WiBro) and was instrumental in turning Korea into a knowledge based society.

KT has been Korea's leader in the development of information and communications business for the last 25 years. In that same time, it has helped turn Korea into an IT powerhouse with

The company offers the world with the leading technology in the operation of broadband service. With the commercial launch of the world's first WiBro, KT is paving the way for U-Korea with ubiquitous infrastructure through which people can share information.

In Kigali KT is planning to build the first WiBro City in the whole of the East African region. The company started work on Kigali City's WiBro Internet which is expected to be completed by December this year. Fewer than 10,000 Rwandans have Internet access in Kigali City. With the new infrastructure probably the number would leap to a 3 per cent increase by 2010 according to officials.