Connecting Africa is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

Connectivity

Econet and X's Project Taara join forces to connect Africa

Article Image
Econet Group is teaming up with X's Project Taara to expand and enhance affordable, high-speed connectivity to communities across sub-Saharan Africa.

Project Taara is working with Econet and its subsidiary, Liquid Telecom, to roll out wireless optical communication links across Liquid's fiber-optic backbone and mobile network infrastructure network – starting in Kenya.

Taara (which was previously called FSOC) is a project at X, Alphabet's "moonshot factory," which has innovated wireless optical communication links using beams of light to deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity over long distances.

In the same way traditional fiber uses light to carry data through cables in the ground, Taara uses light to transmit information at speeds as high as 20 gigabits per second as a very narrow, invisible beam. This beam is sent between two small Taara terminals to create a link.

One of Taara's terminals being piloted in Kenya.  (Source: X)
One of Taara's terminals being piloted in Kenya.
(Source: X)

"Taara's links will begin rolling out across Liquid Telecom's networks in Kenya first, and will help provide high speed connectivity in places where it's challenging to lay fiber cables, or where deploying fiber might be too costly or dangerous — for example over rivers, across national parks, or in post-conflict zones. This is the first roll-out of Taara's technology in Africa and follows a series of pilots in Kenya last year," said Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Taara Project Lead at X, in a blog post about the partnership.

The pilots included testing across the waters between Mombasa Old Town and Diani in Kwale County, Kenya to bring high-speed bandwidth to communities on the South Coast.

Piloting Taara's wireless optical communication links in Kenya  (Source: X)
Piloting Taara's wireless optical communication links in Kenya
(Source: X)

"The trials we have conducted in Kenya have shown encouraging results of how we can reach new underserved areas with huge bandwidths as well as increase our network reliability. Every time we have connected a new country to our fiber network, our investment into middle mile infrastructure has enabled people outside of the major cities and towns, to enjoy high speed data," Liquid Telecom CEO Nic Rudnick said in a statement.

"By creating a series of links from our partner's fiber optic network over ground to underserved areas, Taara's links can relay high speed, high quality internet to people without the time, cost, and hassle involved in digging trenches or stringing cables along poles," Krishnaswamy explained.

"It's important that the signal between Taara's terminals isn't interrupted, so Taara's units are placed high up on towers, poles or rooftops. Taara links offer a cost-effective and quickly deployable way to bring high-speed internet access to remote areas and help plug critical gaps to major access points, like cell towers and WiFi hotspots."

Taara uses beams of light to deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity over long distances.  (Source: X)
Taara uses beams of light to deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity over long distances.
(Source: X)

Fiber networks require backup links in order to provide 99.99 % availability. By delivering fiber-like speeds, Taara links offer an effective fiber backup solution where there is no other viable backup fiber route.

Econet and Liquid Telecom plan to make the technology available to other telecoms customers like mobile networks and ISPs, but also national research education networks.

"This technology and our partnership with Taara forms an important building block towards realizing our vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind," added Econet's executive for new enterprises, Norman Moyo.

Econet is a privately held pan-African technology group with customers in the 28 markets, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Liquid Telecom operates across 13 countries primarily in Eastern, Southern and South Africa providing connectivity, hosting and co-location and digital services including a 73,000km fiber network.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa

Innovation hub

Story

Omdia View: February 2024

Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

Story

Key adoption areas for machine learning in Africa

ICT analyst Francis Hook identifies some of the key sectors that could be positively impacted by machine learning, including education, government services, healthcare and climate tech.

More Innovation hub

Latest video

More videos

Upcoming events

Africa Tech Festival 2024
November 11-14, 2024
Cape Town, South Africa
More Upcoming events

Sponsored video

More videos

Industry announcements

More Industry announcements

Africa Tech Perspectives

Story

Uber's Marjorie Saint-Lot on inclusion and sustainability in Africa

Uber's Country Manager for Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, Marjorie Saint-Lot, shares how the ride-hailing company is approaching public-private partnerships, environmentally friendly initiatives and gender inclusion in Africa.

Story

The 100 most influential African leaders in 2023

A new report from Africa Tech Festival and Connecting Africa puts a spotlight on the top 100 African leaders in the telecoms and technology sector in 2023.

Story

Deep dive into East Africa's tech startup ecosystem

New survey reveals a lack of access to investors, reliance on international VCs and global recession trends as the biggest barriers for East African tech startups to access funds.

More Africa Tech perspectives

Partner perspectives

All Partner Perspectives

Guest Perspectives

Story

Omdia View: January 2024

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in January 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included a $200 million fintech deal between MTN and Mastercard as well as 5G network trials by Telecom Egypt – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

Story

Omdia View: September 2023

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in September 2023 in the Middle East and Africa included more 5G spectrum licenses, vendor and operator strategies, and partnerships – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

More Guest Perspectives

Like us on Facebook

Newsletter Sign Up


Sign Up
Tag id test-002