Seacom buys Kenyan fibre network from Hirani Telecom

Seacom, the company that built the first subsea fibre telecommunications cable to serve Africa’s east coast, has acquired the metropolitan fibre network of Kenya’s Hirani Telecom.

The network will be incorporated into Seacom’s existing metro network in Nairobi, and will be under its full control, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Hirani Telecom is a triple-play service provider, and the largest last-mile provider in the region. Seacom said the acquisition is part of its strategy in the region to grow its on-network capabilities.

“The acquisition of Hirani’s metro fibre network dramatically boosts Seacom’s operations and sets the stage for the expansion of our business services in the region,” said chief sales and marketing officer Steve Briggs. “This is a first step towards ensuring we can provide end-to-end solutions for our customers across the region.”

Hirani Telecom owns two carrier-neutral national metro networks. The first is used to service its home users with Internet and content, and this will be retained by Hirani, which will continue operations as usual.

The second network, which is being acquired by Seacom, will be dedicated solely to Seacom’s enterprise customers.

Seacom CEO Oliver Fortuin said the company’s Kenyan operation had already been using Hirani’s metro network to provide last-mile services to its enterprise customers for some time. “As the only provider on this network, it was a natural progression for us to buy the network and cut out the middleman.”  — © 2021 NewsCentral Media

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