Technology

Telcos to share high-speed Internet cable wiring in buildings

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Workers dig trenches to lay fibre optic cables in Nairobi. Telecom firms will be obligated to share extra capacity on fibre optic cables connected to customers’ premises, as per a proposed law that could minimise multiple wiring of buildings. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Telecommunications company operators will be obligated to share extra capacity on fibre optic cables connected to customers’ premises, as per a proposed law that could minimise multiple wiring of buildings.

This new licensing condition is aimed at curbing anti-competitive behaviour by some telecom infrastructure providers who enter into exclusive agreements with landlords, with the aim of locking out their competitors. 

In the new licensing condition proposed by the Communications Authority of Kenya, the first telco to enter a building will also be required to create extra capacity for rivals.

“To avoid anti-competitive behaviour on access to buildings, we have disallowed exclusive agreements between licensees and landlords,” reads part of the new licensing conditions that are subject for discussion by stakeholders.

The new conditions come as competition to connect the buildings and homes with fibre gets stiffer.

Safaricom, Liquid Telecoms, Telkom Kenya, Jamii Telecoms and AccessKenya are among the firms that are connecting the buildings with fibre optic cables in major towns across the country.

READ: Safaricom to cede 30pc capacity on 4G network

“To ensure new entrants do not interfere with already existing infrastructure, licensees shall be required to establish extra capacity by first entrant to a building,” the licensing condition reads. 

Unlike wireless Internet access, fibre optic cable offers reliable and huge data capacity that is gaining traction with companies that want to adopt video conferencing or other services that are bandwidth-hungry such as tele-medicine.

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“Most providers have already put in place the necessary basics for co-location as they lay down their networks, and all would be required would be for each operator to agree how the relationships will work,” said Peter Arina, general manager for consumer Business at Safaricom. “This would be managed in a very similar fashion to the existing partnerships between operators we have seen with tower sharing.”

Latest industry statistics by communication authority , indicates that while mobile broadband subscription increased to 2.9 million in the three months to June from 2.3 million, the subscriber base of fixed broadband lines remained unchanged at 90,000 in the quarter, despite increased investments in the sector.

The operators in the sector in the year invested Sh3,537,000 up from Sh2,721,000 in 2009.

The returns have also shot to Sh21,941,000 in 2013.