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<DIV>more background info for the friday meeting.......</DIV>
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<DIV>TYCO WINS CONTRACT TO BUILD KENYAN GOVT’S FIBRE CABLE<BR><BR>Communication in Kenya is to set for a major revolution, following the<BR>start of an undersea fibre optic link to the rest of the world through<BR>Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman. American company Tyco last week won a<BR>contract to undertake a marine survey that should be ready in two<BR>months, at a cost of Sh187 million.<BR><BR>The Government will invite bids any time from now for a financial<BR>arranger who will design a plan to raise money for the project,<BR>tentatively expected to be complete by early next year. The contract<BR>will be awarded competitively by April this year.<BR><BR>The Government, through Telkom Kenya, is working with Dubai-based<BR>Etisalat, a telecoms company, to build the cable. The private sector<BR>will be invited to either buy shares, or to prove its capacity to raise<BR>funds through plans worked out by the financial arranger.<BR><BR>Information and Communication minister
Mutahi Kagwe says fast-tracking<BR>the East African Marine System (Teams) will ensure that Kenya does not<BR>lag behind in information and communication technology (ICT). "The East<BR>African coast is the only one without a fibre optic cable. We are racing<BR>against time," he said.<BR><BR>The cost of data transmission would come down, leading to lower cost of<BR>communication. The price of a megabyte is expected to plunge from a high<BR>of Sh490,000 (US$7,000) to Sh14,000 (US$200).<BR><BR><BR>All East Africa countries are part of the project, while Ethiopia wants<BR>to join them. The project was conceived by the Kenya Government after it<BR>became evident that a similar one from South Africa to Port Sudan,<BR>popularly called East Africa Sub-Marine Cable System (EASSY) would not<BR>take off.<BR><BR>Kenya declined to sign the EASSY project protocol, citing inclusion of<BR>the New Partnership for Africa Development (Nepad) into the programme<BR>without specifying its
mandate. Also, Kenya opposed Nepad's attempts to<BR>own the project, saying the group should not be involved as that would<BR>negate its noble concepts.<BR><BR>The country also took issue with non-involvement of the private sector<BR>as it would be difficult to implement the protocol without it, once it<BR>was signed. But Kenya will not pull out of EASSY. It will remain a key<BR>participant and use it as back-up should there be any breakdown of Teams<BR>project.<BR><BR>"We decided to work on a parallel project after it became difficult to<BR>make decisions on the EASSY one. The latter had too many players, some<BR>of whom were coming in every other day. But we will be involved in the<BR>project...The more the cables, the better. That will induce competition,<BR>which will bring down the prices".<BR>(SOURCE: The Nation)<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>secretariat mailing list<BR>secretariat@kictanet.or.ke<BR><A
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