The National Information Communication and Technology Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) was switched

on yesterday in 16 regions after the completion of the first phase of its construction.

The move brings the hope of increased efficiency and reduced Internet charges in Tanzania.

The backbone, which is the terrestrial continuation of the fibre optic submarine cables that landed in Dar es
Salaam recently, has already led to a 99 per cent drop in Internet capacity charges.

Internet service providers (ISPs) who spoke to The Citizen on the new development were optimistic
that the backbone would greatly contribute to the reduction of charges of Internet services to consumers.
However, they said that despite the significant reduction of broadband capacity charges, other factors,
which have not changed much, have a role to play in determining Internet and data charges.

Seacom Tanzania Limited managing director Anna Kahama-Rupia said her company would decrease its
charges in the near future, but could not give a time frame for the reduction.

"We had to pass through Kenya for us to reach the landlocked countries of Rwanda and Burundi, but with
the national backbone we shall easily penetrate through all regions in the country and reach those across
the borders," she said.

Mr Sanctus Msimbe, the SimbaNet corporate business manager said other factors, despite broadband
capacity charges, were important in determining the pricing of Internet and data connectivity to consumers.

He mentioned the factors as the Internet and data (content) prices from international providers.

Capacity charges are costs incurred for using the infrastructure to transmit the Internet bandwidth or data.
The capacity transmission services come in both protected and non-protected options.

There are also expenses incurred by ISPs for connecting consumers with the backbone.

He also said the minimum annual capacity (STM-1) to be provided through the new backbone is still
too much and too expensive for most of the ISPs in the country.

"I would advise the government to come up with smaller capacity offerings than STM-1, because,
apparently, business models for most ISPs cannot afford to pay $180,000 per year," he said.

The NICTBB project that was embarked on in 2008 and is expected to cost about Sh251 billion when it is
completed countrywide at the end of this year.

Its operational management will be handled by the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited
(TTCL).

The director for Information and Communication Technologies at the Ministry of Communications, Science
and Technology, Dr Zaipuna Yonah, told The Citizen on Monday that work to construct the infrastructure
was completed for phase I routes and that it was ready for use.

"The work for phase one has been completed, this includes about 16 regions where we think have ICT
potential users," he said.

"Whereas initially, distance was also considered on setting charges for transmitting any capacity, Tanzania
Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) will now be charging flat-rate independent of the distances."

The backbone has the capacity to carry on all information and link ups with international sub-marine
cables that connect the country to the rest of the globe, he said.

The project is funded by a $170 million soft loan from China and Sh30 billion from government sources.
For many years the country was depending on the microwave (satellite) that was inefficient and expensive.

According to Dr Yonah, the first part of the project covers three routes, Northern Ring I that has point of
presence in Babati, Arusha, Moshi and Tanga. And Nothern Ring II covering Dar es Salaam, Morogoro,
Iringa, Dodoma and Singida.

While the third route (Western Link I and II) have point of presence in Shinyanga, Mwanza, Geita,
Biharamulo, Rusumo and Kambanga.

The completed routes link the country to neighboring countries like Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda.

"Although some of phase II works have been covered in phase I, we are set to complete other routes such
as those connecting us to Zambia and Malawi by the end of this year," said the engineer.

With availability of the infrastructure, the country will have no excuse to exploit the ICT potentials in nearly
all socio-economic and political areas.

Of late Internet has become not a luxurious service but rather part and parcel to many developing
countries.

Relevant Links

 East Africa
 Tanzania

 ICT

However analysts question on how Tanzania, the country that aspires to be an ICT hub in the region, has
prepared its people on tapping all potentials in provision of various digital services including e-government,
e-business, e-education, e-health, e-tourism and others.

"With such a reliable connectivity, every one should think on how they can tap the ICT potentials in their
areas of interest, be it in tourism, education, or in governance," said Dr Yonah.

Already neighboring countries that are landlocked have expressed interest to use the newly built national
ICT backbone so as they can get international links via the submarine cables that landed at the Indian
Ocean shores recently.

Such countries include Zambia, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi

Tanzania Launches First Phase of National Fibre Backbone

The first phase of Tanzania’s 10,674-kilometre national fibre-optic backbone was completed this
week, connecting Dar es Salaam with towns and cities in northern and eastern Tanzania, and to
neighbouring Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda.

The completion of the fibre network closes a significant gap in the East African fibre ring
connecting to the SEACOM, TEAMS and EASSy submarine cables and running from
Mombasa (Kenya) through Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda), and
Bujumbura (Burundi) to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).

Tanzania Telecommunications Co Ltd (TTCL), the incumbent fixed-line operator, has been
mandated to manage the national fibre-optic backbone.
With the first phase of 7,000 kilometres of network completed, the government is embarking
on the second phase, which will connect southern and eastern towns and cities to the
neighbouring countries of Zambia and Malawi.

According to the Citizen newspaper, the director for information and communication
technologies at the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology, Dr Zaipuna
Yonah, said that construction of the first phase of the National Information Communication
and Technology Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) has been completed and the network is
ready for use. According to Yonah, the first phase covers three routes: Northern Ring I
(Babati, Arusha, Moshi and Tanga); Northern Ring II (Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Iringa,
Dodoma, and Singida); and Western Link I and II (Shinyanga, Mwanza, Geita, Biharamulo,
Rusumo, and Kambanga). The completed routes connect Tanzania to Burundi, Rwanda,
Kenya, and Uganda.

Implementation of the backbone officially began on 1 February 2009. The government

reportedly signed a US$170-million contract with a Chinese vendor to deploy the network
over two years. According to the Daily News, President Jakaya Kikwete said that the national
fibre-optic ICT infrastructure backbone network would cover a total distance of 10,674
kilometres and would be built in two phases.

The state already owns a number of companies that have fibre-optic networks and the project
will consolidate these existing cables, as well as building links where gaps exist: TANESCO
(2,050 kilometres), TRL (600 kilometres), TAZARA (120 kilometres) and SONGAS (120
kilometres). The existing TANESCO cables will create a northern ring running from Dar es
Salaam to Tanga, Moshi, Arusha, Singida, Dodoma, Iringa, Morogoro, and Dar es Salaam.

The completion of this fibre network closes a significant gap in the East African fibre ring
connecting to the SEACOM, TEAMS and EASSy submarine cables, and running from
Mombasa (Kenya) through Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda), and
Bujumbura (Burundi) to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). The fibre backbone will connect to the
SEACOM and EASSy submarine cables landing at Dar es Salaam. TTCL is now connected
to the SEACOM submarine cable, which entered service at the end of July 2009. The EASSy
submarine cable landed at Dar es Salaam on 7 April 2010, and is expected to enter service in
June 2010.

The second phase of the national backbone is 3,674 kilometres in length and will connect Dar
es Salaam to Kigoma, Tabora, Sumbawanga, Mbeya, Songea, Mtwara, and Lindi. The
Citizen cites Yonah as saying, "Although some of phase II works have been covered in phase
I, we are set to complete other routes, such as those connecting us to Zambia and Malawi, by
the end of this year."

The Tanzanian government signed two concessional loan agreements with the Export-Import
(Exim) Bank of China last month, totalling 1.181 billion yuan (US$170 million), according to
Xinhua news agency. The first for 700 million yuan covers the financing for the second phase
of the national fibre-optic backbone project. The second for 481 million yuan is for Zanzibar
International Airport Terminal II.