AccessKenya and Tata Communications launch internet point-of-presence in Kenya

Tata Communications and AccessKenya Group have signed a partnership agreement to establish a tier 1 internet point-of-presence (PoP) for Tata Communications in Nairobi, Kenya.

Tata Communications has a 1.5tbps meshed network built on 10G backbones, and with a PoP in Kenya it will be able to offer internet and other service providers access to one of the most dynamically routed and high performance global IP networks for service delivery.

The IP PoP is configured to automatically offer redundant paths for internet traffic going north towards Europe and southwards to South Africa well as to Asia and India over the SEACOM cable system. Should there be a fiber cut on the route to London, for example, traffic will be diverted through South Africa to ensure that customer services are not disrupted, said a press release from the company.

Besides resilience, service providers purchasing bandwidth from the Kenya PoP will be able to benefit from the direct links offered by the new connection. Previously, in order for service providers in Kenya to offer internet links to Asia or South Africa, they needed to route traffic through a cable network to London.

''AccessKenya has already signed up as the first customer on the jointly launched PoP to enable our customers to benefit from the new connectivity,'' said Jonathan Somen, AccessKenya Group managing director.

Claude Sassoulas, managing director for global data solutions at Tata Communications, said, ''Tata Communications is well established in the African market and has been providing internet access to ISPs for over 10 years in Kenya and other African countries, via the acquisition of Teleglobe.''

The AccessKenya Group comprises AccessKenya, a corporate ISP, Broadband Access (Blue), one of Kenya's largest data carrier network operators, and now Openview Business Systems, an IT services providers. The Group's key products include Access@Home, @Home in Kenya Portal, Yello, GO, Broadband Max 2 and Bundu as well as numerous value-added services.