Airtel contracts Access Kenya for fibre backhaul support

Access Kenya Group, Kenya’s corporate data and infrastructure provider and Airtel Kenya have partnered to provide customers with fixed voice services over fibre optic cable.

The two companies have signed a contract that grants Airtel access to Access Kenya’s extensive fibre network. The deal is to provide connectivity services for Airtel’s fixed line voice services, also known as E1.

Airtel Kenya will now buy E1 circuits from Access Kenya’s fibre optic network in over 300 building sites in Nairobi and Mombasa to connect their customers.

Access Kenya Group MD Jonathan Somen said Airtel is set to leverage Access Kenya’s extensive fibre presence to reach more customers, more buildings and to provide reliable services on Access Kenya’s network.

“Our goal remains to provide the most reliable, most consistent services in Kenya backed up with first class customer service.

Given our record uptime of 99.93 per cent last year on our fibre network, partnering with Airtel to provide top quality fixed line services will help both companies to further expand our market shares. By forming a partnership with a leading and global brand such as Airtel, it reinforces our ability to deliver world class services to the Kenyan public,” said Mr Somen.

Airtel Kenya Managing Director Rene Meza said the infrastructure improvement partnership is a perfect complement to Airtel’s goal of offering differentiated and superior quality customer experience of its products and service offering.

“This new partnership helps us strengthen our competitive position besides the quality delivery of our voice services through AccessKenya’s excellent fibre network to the delight of our customers in Nairobi and Mombasa,” said Mr Meza.

Through the deal, Airtel Kenya will gain access to Access Kenya network and strategically gain access to all new buildings the firm connects to fibre every month. The company is currently connecting at least 10 new buildings to its fibre network every month. This is expected to significantly generate revenue for both companies as Airtel sells fixed voice services to new clients while opening new wholesale revenue streams to Access Kenya.

“We have invested millions of shillings in building this capacity to provide backhaul services for mobile operators. This deal marks our first wholesale contract with a mobile operator and that further enhances our services and leverages our investment in infrastructure and primarily our outstanding fibre network.

In line with Airtel’s innovative nature, they are the first mobile operator to recognize the quality of our fibre infrastructure and use it to increase their competitiveness in the local market,” said Mr Somen.