A number of key sub-regional routes have been identified that are essential if there is to be an integrated continental network. This detailed work informs the conclusion of the gap analysis in part 2.
1.2.1 Backhaul from Djibouti
Two submarine cables land at Djibouti: SEAMEWE II and SEAMEWE III. The proposed EASSy cable would also land at Djibouti, and Djibouti Telecom is a signatory to the MoU. At Djibouti, traffic from the EASSy cable would then be carried to Europe and Asia.The status of sub-regional backhaul links from Djibouti are therefore a useful indication for other proposed landing stations on the system. Djibouti Telecom is installing a fibre link to Ethiopia and may also participate in the planned SEA- ME-WEA 4 cable. Expected to cost between $500 and $700 million, this cable is to be built by
Fujitsu and Alcatel, and will provide Terrabit capacity using DWDM.
linked into Djibouti via Changa and Aseb through a 155 Mbps microwave link. Eritrea Telecom is planning to install a minimum STM-1 (155 Mbps) domestic microwave backhaul link from Aseb towards Asmara (the capital), but in the meantime does not have terrestrial infrastructure along this leg. Eritrea Telecom has expressed interest in establishing a submarine cable landing station at Massawa, and was an ardent supporter of the AfricaONE system. The operator is now working to join the EASSy system. An alternative route could also be established via Sudan.
Ethiopia Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) currently has Panaftel and higher capacity microwave connectivity into Djibouti. It is planning to increase capacity on this route through the implementation of an 800-km OC-48 terrestrial fiber link to Djibouti via Dire Dawa which is primarily designed for international interconnectivity into SEA-ME-WE3 and the planned EASSy cables. This project is under contract and is expected to be completed in 2005. In addition, ETC is also implementing a 2 Mbps PDH microwave link between Jijiga a nd Hargeisa in Somaliland.
Somaliland is not currently linked to Djibouti or any of its other neighbours. The analogue Panaftel network linking Hargeisa, Burao and Berbera is not operational and all that remains is a few masts. The telecom companies operating in Somaliland have built some connections between them, generally as PDH 4x2 Mbps links, but these are non-redundant. The Somali Telecom Group is planning to install a link from Borama to Djibouti in the next year.
1.2.2 Ethiopia
Ethiopia is a key gateway country for regional connectivity projects, as it provides the most viable route from Northern Africa and the Mediterranean to Eastern and Southern Africa, avoiding the turbulent areas of southern Sudan and northern Uganda.
Ethiopia Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), the monopoly incumbent operator, has installed a high capacity microwave link with Sudan, and has microwave links to
Djibouti. ETC is a part owner of capacity on the SEAMEWE II and SEAMEWE III
submarine cables which land at Djibouti, and is
therefore in a position to be able to supply upstream international connectivity to its southern neighbours either via Djibouti, or through Sudan and Sudatel’s new link to Jeddah. ETC provides some limited connectivity to the SEAMEWE and FLAG submarine cables in Djibouti using the Panaftel link to Kenya via Moyale (see below).
Route Distance Type Configuration Status Gonder – Khartoum (Sudan) Microwave 34 Mbps SDH Existing and
operational Jijiga – Hargeisa
(Somaliland)
Microwave 2 Mbps PDH Under contract, est RFCS 2005 Addis Ababa-Dessie-
Mekele
820Km FIbre OC48,SDH ADM Planned
Addis Ababa-Awassa 280Km FIbre Planned
Addis Ababa--Jimma 390Km FIbre OC-48,SDH ADM Planned
Addis Ababa- Bahir Dar 580Km FIbre OC-48 ADM Planned
Addis Ababa-- Nekempte 340Km FIbre OC-48 ADM Planned
Addis Ababa-- Sululta Earth Station
35Km FIbre OC-48 Planned
Addis Ababa- Dir Dawa- Djibouti
800Km FIbre OC192;SDH
International Route to SMW3/EASSy
Under contract, est RFCS 2005
1.2.3 Kenya - Ethiopia
The Panaftel link from Kenya into Ethiopia via Moyale is the sole terrestrial link between the two countries. This link still carries traffic between the two countries and is one of the analogue 980 channel microwave backhaul links into Djibouti where a few circuits from Kenya are patched across Ethiopia to transit onto SEAMEWE II and SEAMEWE III cables in Djibouti.
A high capacity terrestrial link from Kenya to Ethiopia would provide restoration for the proposed EASSy cable should that be damaged anywhere on
the leg from Mombasa to Djibouti around the Horn.
1.2.4 Kenya to Uganda
The international link(s) from Kenya to Uganda are of pivotal importance as they would provide backhaul, not just for tr affic from Uganda, but also from Rwanda and potentially eastern DRC and Burundi.
There are currently two separate cross-border links. The first is a 34 Mbps PDH microwave link via Kitale (Kenya) ad Mbale (Uganda). The second is a cable
link via Bungoma (Kenya) to Tororo (Uganda).
On the Ugandan side of the border, MTN has deployed an SDH microwave radio link to the Kenyan border. It is also building out a fibre transmission backbone from Kampala (the capital) which passes through Jinja and short of Tororo. It is planned that this fibre will be extended to the border during 2005. In the opposite direction, past Kampala, there is fibre to Mbarara via Masaka, forming an East-West axis across the most densely populated part of Uganda. From Masaka there is an SDH microwave link to Tanzania, and an SDH microwave link from Mbarara to Kabale, and from there a second microwave link to Rwanda.
On the Kenyan side of the border there are the following links:
Route Distance Type Configuration Status
Nairobi – Eldoret – Bungoma – Mbinba – Tororo – Jinja - Kampala.
Cable Operational
Nairobi – Kitale – Mbale - Kampala.
Microwave PDH 34 Mbps.
Tororo – Kenyan border Microwave SDH Operational
Kampala – Jinja – Tororo Fibre Operational
Tororo – Kenyan border Fibre Planned, est RFCS
2005
1.2.5 Kenya – Somalia
Due to the large number of Somalis in Kenya, a route between these two countries is likely to carry significant amounts of voice traffic.
1.2.6 Kenya – Tanzania (1 and 2)
There are two terrestrial international links between Kenya and Tanzania, bothanalogue Panaftel links. The first runs from Arusha (Tanzania) - Nairobi (Kenya), and the second from Tanga (Tanzania) – Mombasa (Kenya). Importantly, because of problems on the links from Uganda to Tanzania, some Ugandan traffic to Tanzania is carried via Kenya and through the second of these two links.
TTCL and Telkom Kenya have
collaborated to upgrade these international links and began to install a new digital
microwave link on the first route in late 2001. This will replace the aging analogue interstate link with an SDH transmission system and will address the growing demand for interstate communication traffic from public switched telecoms networks, data and mobile
operators.
Route Type Configuration Status
Arusha (Tanzania) - Nairobi (Kenya)
Analogue Panaftel link
960-channel Nairobi (Kenya) - Namanga -
Arusha (Tanzania)
Digital microwave SDH 155 Mbps This link was not yet functional in mid-2003 because a 50 mile section on the Kenyan side past Namanga is not yet installed. Mobile operator Kencell offered to provide it (for the transmission capacity)
Mombasa – Tanga Analogue Panaftel microwave
SDH 155 Mbps This is an old, ailing PANAFTEL link with limited capacity.
At least four alternative routes exist:
1. East Africa Digital Transmission Project (EADTP). Although this project