AccessKenya Group has announced plans to expand its metropolitan fibre network in Nairobi and Mombasa at a cost of over Ksh 100 million within the next 12 months. The expansion, which will cover additional areas along Thika Road, Outering Road, Mlolongo and Lower Kabete, is aimed at delivering fast Internet speeds to clients in over 100 new buildings as well as furthering the company's reach to new clients. The number will be an addition to the current 350 plus buildings in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Announcing the expansion roll-out, AccessKenya CEO Jonathan Somen said the move has been necessitated by the growing demand on the company's fibre network with more corporate companies connecting to the infrastructure owing to its reliability in the in the market.
"As the leading and most reliable and stable network in Kenya, we have witnessed an enormous demand from corporate customers to get onto our fibre and this keeps growing. We are therefore continuing to rollout the fibre optic cable to meet the demand, which we believe will continue to push us further ahead of all our competitors," said Mr. Somen.

Somen noted that the there is 'massive untapped demand' for fixed broadband connections for corporate customers in the country and further affirmed that AccessKenya will continue to pursue corporate solutions as its core business as it continues to widen its reach.

"We are continuously expanding our network coverage countrywide. Our entry strategy in new towns is via wireless networks because they allow for faster deployment at a low investment, while still offering excellent service," said Mr. Somen

AccessKenya Group Projects Manager Ndung'u Njoroge said the planned expansion will cover approximately 40kms in Nairobi and would encompass linkages with the existing network to maintain its integrity.

Faster Speeds

Njoroge noted that there will be no interruptions on the service to existing clients due to the current design of the fibre network.

"Even in cases where we have to cut and join new cables to existing infrastructure, clients will remain connected courtesy of our multiple connections that we deploy to every terminal point," Mr. Njoroge assured.

Meanwhile, Njoroge cited the ongoing road constructions especially along Thika Road as a major challenge noting that there are cases where the infrastructure can be cut soon after being laid if not timed well.

"We don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we lay the infrastructure and afterwards we are subjected to fibre cuts by road contractors," said Mr. Njoroge.

The announcement comes even as the company continues to develop its capacity to offer more services to the growing clientele. Two weeks ago, the Group announced completion of Ksh 30 million system upgrades on the state-of the-art data centre at Barclays' plaza which was also tied to demands from customers for tailored IT services. AccessKenya offers a wide range of IT services including data backup, disaster recovery and inter-branch connectivity (MPLS) alongside corporate and high-end residential Internet connectivity.