RWANDA BACKS AMBITION WITH ACTION
News was received overnight that Rwandas declared ambition to become a regional ITC superpower has now been backed up by government plans and commitments to inject additional fibre optic high speed high bandwidth capacity in the market through a contract with Tanzania Telecommunications. The 1.244 Gigabyte per second new connection will at least in half be taken up by government and governmental bodies to enhance e-government across Rwanda while the balance is due to be released into the open market to bring subscription rates down while at the same time increasing the existing speed of connections.
Broadband penetration in Africa still lingers below the half percent margin, when looked at as a continent but Rwanda is set to offer universal access to the internet for use in schools, institutions of higher learning and by promoting e-commerce for the entire economy. Already, as a case in point, are Visa only being granted electronically unless for very special and rare circumstances, compelling visitors who require Visa to enter Rwanda to apply in advance on the immigration website and then come with a printed confirmation / receipt and reference number to the immigration counter at the airport where processing subsequently is swift and generally perceived as the fastest in the entire region. The Rwanda Development Board, Tourism & Conservation, has also kept track on virtual visits to the country via websites, which have over the past two years increased exponentially, giving added exposure to Rwandas tourism attractions and helping to market the country to real visitors who are coming to Rwanda in ever growing numbers.
In addition Rwanda is wired up through fibre optic connections extending from the landing points of the seabed cables in Mombasa, via Nairobi, the Ugandan border, Kampala and Kabale to the land borders between Rwanda and Uganda, besides existing satellite backups which are used when, as recently seen, cables are cut or damaged. Rwanda taking the lead, again. Welcome to the Land of a Thousand Hills, where things are happening.
