Tata Communications partners Infinity to expand internet services in Africa

Tata Communications has entered into a partnership agreement with Infinity Africa for its data services in Tanzania, expanding the reach of Tata Communications' IP network further into East Africa.

The company has already established a point of presence (PoP) in Kenya 6 months ago, further reinforcing its commitment to emerging markets.

Tata Communications has been providing internet and voice services in Tanzania for over 10 years - as Teleglobe, which it bought over in February 2006. This point of presence in Dar-es-Salaam offers tier 1 IP service in Tanzania and will enable local service providers to offer highly resilient internet access.

"Tata Communications' expansion into East Africa and its presence in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania will bring the internet closer to the local enterprise and provide users with direct access to one of the most dynamically routed and high-performance global IP networks. Tata Communications in East Africa provides a resilient and diverse backbone with connectivity between Kenya and Tanzania to South Africa," Claude Sassoulas, managing director, Europe and Africa, Tata Communications, said.

The new point of presence at Dar-es-Salaam is configured to automatically offer redundant paths for all traffic going towards the global internet via Europe and South Africa. This redundancy is specifically designed to ensure continuity of service in case of network outages.

In addition, service providers will have the added advantages of greater scalability, flexibility and lower latency to South Africa and Kenya, the company said in its release.

The collaboration with Tata Communications will help Infinity Africa provide reliable high speed internet access to its growing customer base.

"We are very happy to be partnering with Tata Communications for the establishment of the Tier 1 internet PoP in Tanzania," said Hussein Dharsee, managing director of Infinity Africa. "Partnering with one of the world's largest carriers of international communication services allows us to offer unprecedented levels of service and reliability," he added.