Somali land, known for mostly negative stories of war now has a new song to sing, as Liquid Telcom has decided to give them a taste of cross-border fibre optic link.
Liquid telcom has built the first fibre optic link into Somalia connecting the country to its neighbors, the rest of the world and the undersea cables by fibre for the first time.
The fibre link connects the Kenya Somalia border then directly into the fibre network of Hormuud Telecom Somalia Inc. (HORTEL) for local termination.
Hortel’s fibre network will provide Liquid Telecom’s customers – fixed and mobile operators, wholesale carriers and enterprises – with reliable, robust and fast connectivity in southern and central Somalia.
HORTEL’s customers now have access to Liquid Telecom’s pan-African fibre network, temporarily. The network extends to more than 17,000k across Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and provides connectivity onto the five main subsea cable systems landing in Africa; WACS, EASSY, SEACOM, SAT3 and TEAMs.
“We will be providing the people of Somalia with access to the global internet at higher speeds and with more capacity available than ever before. Our goal is to connect every person and business in Africa to the internet and to each other. We are an agile and entrepreneurial company which is investing heavily in building our pan-African fibre network,” said Nic Rudnick,Liquid Telecom Group CEO .
Hormuud Telecom Chairman & CEO, Mr. Ahmed Yuusuf said: “The connection of the HORTEL network to Liquid Telecom’s international fibre network is a landmark for Somalia and will provide our customers with the fastest and most cost effective communications speeds available. This is a significant accomplishment for both companies.
He added that Hormuud Telecom plans to enrich lives through improved voice and data coverage, with the support of Liquid Telecom which provides the terrestrial fibre connection into Somalia.
“We always remember our social responsibilities in this country of ours, Somalia, which has suffered from civil war for years, as we help provide generators and fuel to hospitals, food and shelter to displaced people and educational supplies to schools,” he said.