KAMPALA, Uganda–Google, the multi-billion dollar American global corporation specializing in Internet-related services and products, recently announced Project Link for Kampala.
This would mean connecting more people in Kampala to the worldwide web through a super-fast, high capacity optic-fibre network.
Local mobile operators and Internet service providers will then be able to connect more people in Kampala to a faster, more reliable Internet service.
Kai Wulff, an Access Director at Google while unveiling the project in Kampala recently said, “With Project Link, we’re enabling local providers access a first-class network to serve the city of Kampala. With access to metro fibre, these providers can expand their services in order to meet the demands of a growing population of innovators and entrepreneurs, whether it’s fast connections for local hospitals or high-tech learning tools for young people in the classroom and beyond,” he said.
In many instances, online activity is halted by pre-broadband speeds or unreliable connections.
According to Google officials, Project Link is focused on improving speed and quality through a metro network.
The network is available to connect providers to long-distance fibre lines, equipping them with near-unlimited capacity to build and expand services to customers and deliver speeds that can support the Web.
Metro fibre works by strengthening a crucial link in the supply chain that connects users to the data they seek, share, and create. For example, undersea cables are bringing data to Africa’s shores, and mobile operators are expanding their services across the continent.
“We want our customers in Uganda to access the Internet without capacity constraints, so they can send large files, upload video, download software updates, and more,” Godfrey Kisekka, the Chief Technology Officer, Orange Uganda said.
He said, “The partnership with Google will enable us to expand our network capacities, thus helping us achieve our ambition to provide users with the best network coverage and high-quality services.”
“We are pleased to be working with Google on their Uganda initiative,” said Roger Sekaziga, Chief Executive Officer, Roke Telkom.
“We believe this collaboration will give us the flexibility to scale our operations with reduced incremental capital expenditure. This will allow us to leverage their platform to address niche markets. Ultimately, we think the consumer will be the beneficiary of these higher speed tiers,” he said.
“Project Link is an exciting development for the city of Kampala and surrounding regions. It’s an opportunity for us to build on top of better infrastructure and provide our customers in Uganda robust access to the Internet, larger bandwidth, and continue to deliver new services that allow better overall productivity,” Claude Vendette, the CEO of One…Solutions said.
The project is part of Google’s larger efforts to help get Africa online. Other projects to improve internet access in Sub Saharan include a recent successful TV White Spaces trial in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as exploring how TV White Spaces technology could be put to use elsewhere on the continent.
