By Linda Carter, SEACOM
May 17, 2017

SEACOM continues to extend the geographical reach of its network with the launch of new Points of Presence in Rwanda and Botswana through partnerships with strong local providers.

As landlocked countries, Rwanda and Botswana have both historically relied on costly international connectivity via satellite or transit from their neighbouring countries. That changed with the launch of the SEACOM submarine cable in 2009 on the east coast of Africa and the subsequent development of national fibre backbones that connect to SEACOM’s infrastructure. Competition has increased and the price of bandwidth has fallen – in the case of Botswana, by 70% in the past five years.

Rwanda has a population of 12 million people and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an investor-friendly business environment. However, telecoms infrastructure remained underdeveloped and prices high until a few years back. Rwanda completed a rollout of national fibre infrastructure relatively quickly, but connectivity to neighbouring countries and the coast took longer because it involved coordination with several third parties.

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