This archive report was first published on 30 October 2019.
On October 30, 2019, Tanzania's state-owned telco, TTCL Corporation, announced plans to expand its fibre optic cable to Burundi.
The expansion, valued at $5.9 million, will be carried out by TTCL in partnership with the Tanzanian National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) and managed by the Burundi Backbone System (BBS).
According to Elia Ntihagowumwe, executive officer of BBS, the 10-year deal will connect Burundi to the Seacom and Eassy international undersea cable systems.
TTCL's Vedastus Mwita noted that the value of the initial agreement will change once TTCL upgrades the supply from 2.5 bits per second to 10 billion bits per second.
“TTCL will provide data and high speed Internet as it stores data at the national Internet data centre, which will benefit corporate customers operating businesses in both countries like CRDB bank,” Mwita said.
TTCL has already connected Zambia, Malawi, and Rwanda, and is targeting other SADC countries.
