Telkom Kenya plans to invest in a new submarine fiber optic cable system. By the end of 2021, the new cable system aims to connect Kenya with Asia and Europe.
The undersea cable, dubbed Pakistan and East Africa Connecting to Europe (Peace), is owned by the Chinese firm Peace Cable International Network. The cable will have key landing points in Kenya, Pakistan, and France, with a second phase planned for South Africa.
This will be the sixth undersea cable to arrive in Mombasa, following the East African Marine System, in which Telkom owns a stake, and privately-owned Seacom in 2009.
Telkom Kenya also owns a stake in the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY), the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION), and the Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE1) cable systems. These systems stretch 4,854 kilometers beneath the sea and are expected to cost Ksh. 25.7 billion ($235 million) at the outset.
A 36-Terabyte undersea internet cable named Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1 (DARE 1), a project of Telkom Kenya, Somtel, a private telecoms operator, and Djibouti Telecom, arrived in Mombasa in March 2020.
The project, which cost Ksh. 8.6 billion, aimed to increase data access in the region and was expected to lower data costs in Kenya, benefiting consumers. Given the 5,000-kilometer distance between Mombasa and Djibouti, the cable took 45 days to lay.
DARE1 was Kenya’s 5th submarine cable to land. TEAMS (The East African Marine System) was the first to arrive in 2009. Others include the Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASsy) and Lion2, which connects Madagascar and Kenya.