How Broadband will be connected to Somaliland/Somalia

Alcatel-Lucent contractors lay the TEAMS fibre optic cable on the Fujairah shore-end in the UAE

SGS shares with you this article which was first published by the Global Broadband & Innovation (part of USAID Connectivity 4 Development) but also featured in various African online News websites and papeprs. Below we want to clarify the facts and what is in the best interest for Somaliland.

Global Broadband & Innovation
http://connectivity.gbiportal.net/2011/07/14/how-broadband-will-get-to-somalia-before-you-know-it/

also appeared in IT News Africa
http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2011/07/how-broadband-will-get-to-somalia/

First of all, the above article is prepared by a young journalist with limited knowledge in the region and the interview given by Mr Mohamed Ahmed Jama of Dalkom did not help. He was given more of a propoganda platform than professional who knows what he is talking about. This is evident as you read through the article especially when he talks about the ability of Dalkom to complete the connectivity of the backbone terresterial in Somalia if the Kenyan government takes the fibre nearer to the border. Technically such initiative is not feasible let alone the challenges associated with the instability of the region and perhaps it would have been better if he was more specific in talking about the radio microwave networks.

What Somaliland (and Somalia for that matter) needs is a direct connectivity to the nearby cables as it cannot be compared with land locked countries such as South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi and others. There is a whole host of submarine cables going by our doorstep and an IP PoP (Point of Presence) recently installed in the neighbouring country, Djibouti which can be connected to a local hub (Berbera). Presumably these are the options that SomCable is venturing but we need to do it very quickly to stand any chance of catching up with the fast development of the technology and the internet renaissance in Africa. Otherwise this will mean that Somaliland and its investors find themselves in an awkward situation which could have far reaching ramifications.