SOMALILAND: SOMTEL to Bring High-Speed Internet in 2014 after Satellite Deals

Hargeisa, 14 Nov 2013 (SDN) -Somaliland will have access to high-speed telecommunications networks after agreeing to two deals that will connect the Horn of Africa nation to fiber optic cables and satellites.

O3b Networks Ltd., a satellite provider that includes Google Inc. (GOOG) and HSBC Principal Investments among its investors, will provide Internet capacity to Hargeisa, Somaliland-based Somtel from 2014, the company said in a statement today.

“At present, connectivity is neither reliable nor adequate in Somalia,” Somtel Chief Technology Officer Ismail Dualeh said in the statement. “The O3b solution will give Somtel the chance to bring vastly improved Internet connectivity with better performance.”

Somalia’s first fiber optic broadband link will be built by Mauritius-based Liquid Telecom, the company said in a statement yesterday. The build out of communication networks in the country has been hampered by conflict since the 1991 fall from power of Mohamed Siad Barre’s dictatorship.

Source: Bloomberg