East African Business Week (Kampala)
Cedric Lumiti
22 June 2009
Nairobi — Major players in the telecommunications sector are entering strategic partnerships aimed at maximizing the fibre-optic cable. Kenya's leading mobile communication solutions provider Safaricom last week entered a strategic partnership with Jamii Telecommunications Limited (JTL) whereby Jamii will become Safaricom's preferred broadband infrastructure provider once the East African Marine Systems (TEAMS) Cable becomes operative.
"This relationship is key to our data strategy and is an integral part of our commitment to enhancing the value for our shareholders," said Safaricom's CEO Michael Joseph.
"Safaricom has now formally migrated to the Communication Commission of Kenya's (CCK) new technology-neutral, unified licensing regime and can therefore effectively offer a broader spectrum of data services using any technological platform available to it," he added.
Jamii Telecommunications is one of Kenya's leading broadband infrastructure providers. This new alliance effectively gives Safaricom access to Jamii's over 1,000 kilometers of state-of-the-art metro fibre network in
Jamii's Chairman and CEO, Joshua Chepkwony said the agreement is "a milestone for the Kenyan information and communications technology (ICT) industry."
His company had made a significant investment in developing its fibre network, he noted, and expressed confidence that Jamii would be able to comfortably handle Safaricom's demanding requirements.
The announcement by Safaricom and Jamii of this partnership is made as the country awaits the coming into commercial service of the 1.28 TB/s TEAMS undersea cable in which the two companies own a 20% and 3.75% stake, respectively.
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