Kenya’s private and public sector organisations will be able to accelerate their migration to cloud-based business solutions and integrate more closely with the global digital economy following the launch of Seacom Business’s Internet connectivity and cloud services.
That is according to Seacom Business East Africa Sales Lead Patrick Ndegwa, who says that Kenyan organisations will be able to take full advantage of the latest digital solutions and technologies as high-speed fibre Internet access becomes more widely available. This will help companies – especially multinationals and technology start-ups – to take their place in a global digital economy.
The availability of faster, more affordable and more reliable broadband Internet services will enable them to take advantage of the agility, cost-savings and rapid deployment of cloud-based business solutions, for example. In addition, businesses will be able to collaborate via high-quality voice-over-IP connections and even start making more use of videoconferencing and telepresence.
They will be able to take advantage of services such as offsite backup and infrastructure as a service, enabling them to reduce their IT capital and operating costs by tapping into services from world-class datacentre providers. “We have been talking about the power of the cloud for years, but aggressive fibre rollouts led by companies like Seacom start to turn it into a compelling reality for Kenyan organisations,” says Ndegwa.
Seacom recently unveiled its plans to provide Internet connectivity and cloud services directly to corporate customers under the banner of the new Seacom Business initiative. Its aim is to provide organisations with faster, more reliable, more affordable and more consistent connectivity so they can improve their businesses processes by taking advantage of the latest digital and cloud solutions. “Initial customers of the service have all been impressed with the speed and uptime we are able to deliver,” says Ndegwa.
Seacom is leveraging its abundant and scalable capacity on its undersea cable system and continent-wide IP-MPLS network, as well as the capabilities of its cloud services, to enable corporates in East Africa to smoothly transition to the cloud. In addition to offering Kenyan companies fibre Internet access, Seacom also offers powerful cloud solutions.
For example, it can enable companies to take advantage of cloud offerings like hosted mail, online backup, end-point protection, and virtual hosting. Seacom also recently entered into partnerships with Microsoft to offer ExpressRoute services to enhance the experience of customers looking to access Microsoft Azure services across Seacom’s network.
“Because we own and operate the network end-to-end at the fibre level, we can offer businesses the seamless and fast connectivity as well as the consistent quality of service they need to take advantage of the cloud and other IP services such as voice and video,” Ndegwa says. “This means we can help customers to optimise IT and communications resources by taking advantage of the cloud’s efficiencies and scale.”
The new product offerings include high-speed, dedicated Fibre Internet Access with options ranging from 10 Mbps up to 1 Gbps which will allow businesses in East Africa to unlock their true potential in today’s online and digital age.
Following the launch of its Seacom Business offering in South Africa a year ago, the division in East Africa has already signed up almost 50 business customers, adding more each month. It has also recently appointed several corporate partners to support its drive into the SME market, and expects to speed up its total corporate customer acquisitions going forward.
The company is leveraging its abundant and scalable capacity on its undersea cable system and continent-wide IP-MPLS network, as well as the capabilities of its Cloud services, to enable corporates in South Africa and East Africa to smoothly transition to the Cloud.
At present, it offers a redundant connectivity ring around Africa’s east and west coasts, optimal traffic routing, and resiliency through multiple tier-1 upstream partners in Europe and Asia. It also offers direct connectivity to African routes and content. It delivers these services over last-mile access through leading connectivity partnerships in various regions. Last-mile fibre is a major focus for Seacom in the corporate market. Initially, the company aimed to bring standard fibre to corporate customers in Kenya and South Africa.
Seacom’s business offering includes the following:
- Internet Access provides customers with reliable, dedicated, high-speed access to the Internet through multiple global tier 1 networks, a mesh of subsea and terrestrial routes as well as low-latency routing to many key content delivery networks hosted on its network and on the African continent.
- Virtual Private Network services offer dedicated, transparent, layer-2 or layer-3 VPN connectivity across Seacom’s network and onwards through our international partner networks.
- Private Line Services give clients secure, dedicated, low-latency transmission connectivity across multiple cable systems connecting Africa, Europe and Asia, as well as regionally to key interconnection points in Africa.
- Cloud services, hosted mail, online backup, end-point protection, virtual hosting and other Cloud services provide customers with the ability to leverage the Cloud to improve business processes and reduce costs.
- Seacom also recently entered into partnerships with Microsoft to offer ExpressRoute services to enhance the experience of customers looking to access Azure and 0365 services across Seacom’s network.
“Seacom initially focused on bringing low-cost data transmission infrastructure to other service providers in Africa. However, we were not seeing the optimal take-up of our international data capabilities to the end-user market, and the associated benefits that this can bring,” said Seacom CEO Byron Clatterbuck.
“Seacom is now offering its data and other services directly to companies in East Africa, with a focus on our regional and international footprint that other providers lack. We own and operate our own network end-to-end at the fibre level, allowing us to offer seamless and cost-effective network solutions regionally, as well as into Europe and Asia,” added Clatterbuck.
Says Clatterbuck, “We have already built out 8 metro points of presence around Nairobi, and this gives us a solid base from which to extend further with our partners. By having our own metro PoPs, we can better manage service quality and network scalability to our growing customer base.”
In September 2016, Seacom, improved its international IP-MPLS network by going live with a Point of Presence in Slough, United Kingdom. Slough, just 33km west of London, contains some of the UK’s most and largest co-location data centres serving the city’s financial services sector and other key commercial clients.
The area is a key hub for transit of traffic between London and major global financial centres such as New York. The new PoP is significant for African financial services institutions that trade in equities. It will give them a direct route to one of the UK’s most important financial interconnection points, delivering better performance and lower latency.
Seacom’s IP Transit network now offers African service providers and network operators direct connectivity to a range of Tier-1 partner networks in Europe. Because it controls the infrastructure, from its global and African IP Transit networks to remote peering points in Europe, it can guarantee high levels of quality and support to its customers.
Previously, Seacom strengthened its pan-African presence with the direct deployment of two Points of Presence in Uganda. With the Uganda Communications Commission giving its clearance to Seacom Uganda by issuing the Public Infrastructure Provider licenses, Seacom will offer a full array of telecom services in Uganda and unleash their associated benefits to Ugandan network operators and service providers.
The deployment of the PoPs will further enable onward access to other neighbouring countries such as Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
To enable service provision in Kampala and the Kampala metro, Seacom Uganda will deploy one of the Points of Presence within the capital at Airtel House and the other location is to be confirmed shortly. These PoPs will be directly connected through ring-switched backhaul links through Nairobi to Mombasa and then on to the Seacom international subsea cable network.
Through these connections, Uganda will have more direct and resilient access to global communications interconnection points and the global Internet. Seacom’s IP network offers global connectivity to Europe and Asia, interconnection to multiple Tier-1 network operators, as well as more and more African-hosted content.
The deployment of the two PoPs will improve Internet access for Ugandans by 50%, enabling users to access popular content such as video, music and software updates through Seacom’s partnerships with global content development networks such as Level 3, Akamai and others.
Furthermore, Ugandan service providers will now also be able to use Seacom’s remote peering service. This product provides access to more than 1,100 members of exchanges such AMS-IX, LINX, FRANCE-IX and NAP Africa through a single port solution on the Seacom network. The result is that Ugandan operators will be able grow and optimize their networks more efficiently.
Seacom launched the first broadband submarine cable system along the East African coastline in 2009 linking South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique with major Internet connection hubs in Europe and Asia.
