The New Times Issue No:596 , October 11 - 12, 2004

Terracom in nation wide ICT rollout

Communications provider Terracom has ventured into a nationwide rollout of Alloptic's Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) equipment in Rwanda. The initial deployment is in the capital city of Kigali, with emphasis placed on providing fibre connectivity to schools, government offices, and foreign embassies.
The network will connect Rwandans to each other and to the world. Terracom's fibre network will be the largest in central Africa, providing connections to over 200,000 students and all government ministries. The network will span the entire country from end-to-end, carrying telephone, Internet and TV. Alloptic (Livermore, CA) offers standards-based Ethernet PON equipment that enables service providers to deploy voice (TDM and IP), video (RF and IP), and data services.
"We are pleased to be working with the Rwandan government and President Paul Kagame to provide Rwanda with a world class communications infrastructure," said Greg Wylar, American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and driving force behind Terracom.
"With one of the most stable governments in Africa, Rwanda has lacked a communications infrastructure. This massive fibre-optic build-out is making Rwandan communications comparable to the infrastructures deployed in the United States and far ahead of any other country in the region," said Wylar.
"Call centers and businesses are looking to relocate in Rwanda because the communications systems are by far the best in the region."
Alloptic's Gigabit Ethernet PON technology has been deployed worldwide. The environmentally hardened design and passive architecture make the access technology ideal for many environments.
"After reviewing numerous technology options, Alloptic was the only provider that offered a true future-proof network architecture, based on the widely understood Ethernet standard, and was robust enough to handle our environment which requires low power consumption at the endpoints and no powering in the middle," Wyler explained.
--Agencies