The Kenya government is set to install 100kms optic infrastructure to 40,000 public schools and other learning institutions, 20,000 government institutions, 13,000 health facilities across the country.
According to the Kenyan government in a new ten-year National Digital Masterplan 2022-2032, the 100,000km of high speed fiber optic infrastructure will provide internet to all Schools, government institutions/offices, Metro-cities, health facilities, rural businesses, homes and public spaces. The government will also deploy 25,000 hotspots and establish 1,450 digital innovation hubs in wards across the country to support youth and innovators.
““The master plan is crucial at a time when the world enters a new round of industrial revolution and countries around the globe are expediting their digital economic expansion hence the need to modernise government services,” said Kenya’s ICT and Youth Affairs CS Joseph Mucheru adding that the plan will create millions of jobs for the countries youth and spur local manufacturing and growth.
“To position the country as a regional ICT hub, the plan proposes establishment of regional ICT smart hubs as well as regional submarine cables maintenance depots,” he added.
The Kenya National Digital Master Plan 2022-2032, is a sequential progression of the Master Plan 2014-2017 but was built on the e-Government Strategy 2004, the first National ICT Policy of 2005 and The Master Plan 2013 to push for equitable access to national services, provision of e-Government information and services for improved productivity, development of a digitally skilled workforce and citizenry and to help turn innovative ideas into sustainable businesses and operating models.
The Kenyan government has built approximately 9000km of terrestrial fibre in the last ten years reaching sub-counties and connecting key government institutions and offices to offer government service through National Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure Project (NOFBI). The NOFBI has been implemented in three Phases; NOFBI phase I was implemented in 2008 and covered 4300Km of terrestrial fibre. The NOFBI Phase 2 project started from September 2014 and its scope included 2,100 KM fibre links and IP equipment to all the 47-county headquarters, building of metropolitan area networks in all 47-county headquarters, and creating a redundancy to the national backbone.
In 2017, the government embarked on NOFBI 2E network with a scope of 2,500 KM fibre links and IP equipment majorly covering sub-counties and creating
sub-rings to further increase redundancy as shown in Figure 4.2. Kenya has since achieved a more reliable, stable and efficient national backbone network that is being used by the Government at the National and County levels.
On Last Mile connectivity, the government has built a total of 534km of last mile connectivity mainly connecting 1650 key public institutions and offices to offer service delivery through programmes such as Government Common Core Network (GCCN), NOFBI, CCP) within Nairobi to serve as a shared and secure inter-operable Government-wide ICT architecture and improve inter-ministerial sharing of databases and exchange of information.
At the county level, through Nation Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI) and County Connectivity Project the government has implemented
510 km of last mile connectivity in the county headquarters as part of the county metros and last mile connections. These interconnects all counties with VoIP (county and inter-county communication; voice services) through internet connection (promoting online services using telephones, emails and video conferencing) and access to critical government applications like the IFMIS.
