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Liquid Telecom starts US$34m Rwandan investment plan and network expansion including first fibre to the home
[October 15, 2014]

Liquid Telecom starts US$34m Rwandan investment plan and network expansion including first fibre to the home


(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Capacity Africa, Dar es Salaam - The Liquid Telecom Group today announced the expansion and investment plans of its operations in Rwanda which will enable more businesses and homes to access its high-speed broadband service both within Rwanda and surrounding countries.



The Liquid Telecom Group has long recognised the advantages of Rwandas central African location and role as an Internet services hub for east and central Africa. In June the company announced that it had completed the build of the East Africa Fibre Ring which connects Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and back into Kenya. This provides consistently high speeds and continuous uptime across the region.

Over the next two years, Liquid Telecom Rwanda, the wholesale business in Rwanda, will invest a further $34 million laying thousands of kilometres of new fibre across the country and to the borders of neighbouring Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.


The new fibre will enable more businesses and homes to access Liquid Telecoms broadband service. In addition, operators in neighbouring countries will be able to interconnect with Liquid Telecom Rwandas network for additional security, backup for Uganda and an alternative routing option through Tanzania.

As part of the expansion plan, and following a successful rollout at Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe, Liquid Telecom Rwanda will be the first company in Rwanda to lay extensive Fibre To The Home (FTTH) starting in the capital city of Kigali where it has already built a metropolitan fibre ring. Homes and businesses in the country have traditionally used a combination of WiMAX, dongles, satellite and mobile broadband but will now be able to connect using fibre laid directly to the premises.

The FTTH service will be available from Liquid Telecom Rwandas retail business. It will offer speeds of up to 100Mbps which, combined with unlimited capacity, will provide home connections comparable to large multinational corporations enabling usage such as high definition video, live TV streaming, uninterrupted VoIP calling, real-time online gaming and both uploading and downloading of large files.

Future plans for the FTTH service include offering value-added and OTT services similar to those currently launching in Zimbabwe.

Sam Nkusi, Chairman Liquid Telecom Rwanda, said We are an ambitious company which is investing heavily in laying new fibre across the nation and direct to peoples doors. We are building a 21st century network which will help our country continue to grow and prosper.

The Liquid Telecom Group is exhibiting at Capacity Africa which takes place in Dar Es Salaam this week. www.capacityconferences.com/Capacity-Africa.html About The Liquid Telecom Group www.liquidtelecom.com Liquid Telecom is the leading independent data, voice and IP provider in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. It supplies fibre optic, satellite and international carrier services to Africas largest mobile network operators, ISPs, financial institutions and businesses of all sizes. Multi-award-winning Liquid Telecom has built Africas largest single fibre network which runs from the north of Uganda to Cape Town, currently spanning over 18,000km across borders and covering Africas fastest-growing economies where no fixed network has existed before. Liquid Telecoms network provides connectivity onto the five main subsea cable systems landing in Africa; WACS, EASSY, SEACOM, SAT3 and TEAMs.

Working under various brands, the Liquid Telecom Group has operating entities in Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The company was named Best African Wholesale Carrier in both 2012 and 2013 at the annual Global Carrier Awards. It has been shortlisted again this year with the winner due to be announced in November.

For more information please contact Liquid Telecoms PR representative Bridget Fishleigh [email protected], +44 7946 342 903 or skype: bridgetfishleigh .

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