Kenya Unveils ADSL2 in $380m Project

Posted 08 June 2006 @ 12:12 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - Kenya Data Networks (KDN), in conjunction with Alcatel and Siemens, will next month begin deploying ADSL2 networks to support “triple play” services throughout the East African country.

Communications provider KDN is concluding ADSL2 trials with Alcatel and Siemens with a view to start rolling out a new triple play service later this month, says KDN CEO Kai Wulff, who is also managing the project.

The roll-out phase was prompted by KDN receiving a broadcast licence last month, allowing it to carry triple play (data, video and audio) functions, including Internet Protocol (IP) TV, for several content providers, including DSTV, says Wulff.

“The first phase roll-out is going to cost around $50 million, starting in Nairobi, with the remainder of the roll-out project costing up to $330 million.” ADSL2 is a faster variant of ADSL, and has been approved by the International Telecommunications Union as a standard for triple play services.

Wulff expects the programme to cover the whole of Kenya by 2008, with an estimated 200 000 subscribers. He explains that the new service will be carried over a fixed-line DSL network that KDN is installing, completely separate from the monopolised Telkom Kenya. The lines, he adds, will be supported by KDN's network fibre backbone (STM64), using a multi-protocol label switching metro core, which is a system used to enhance IP usability.


“We want to create a system that can support all content formats that Kenyans can utilise at affordable rates,” says Wulff. It is envisaged Internet service providers will sell the ADSL2 service, with all features, to individuals for below $50 per month, with all local calls free, TV, video and at least 1Mbps Internet, says Wulff.

Aside from being able to support video streaming, the system will be able to provide clear voice over IP, which older systems cannot accommodate, he notes. Wulff explains that this is because ADSL2 has a feature known as “channelisation”, which creates another path for IP telephony to be transported in a separate channel over the fixed-line DSL.

“It transports voice within the physical layer, letting derived voice channels ride over DSL bandwidth, while maintaining both plain old telephone services and high-speed Internet access.” Coupled with the ADSL2 roll-out, KDN is putting in place a mesh WiFi network known as a “butterfly” system, which will cover an area of 80 square kilometres in and around Nairobi, says Wulff. “It is important that all Kenyans have the choice to access to the Internet in most parts of the country.”