Xinhua news agency reports that Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation (TTCL) signed an agreement with Burundi Backbone Systems (BBS) – a consortium of Burundian telecommunications operators that have joined forces to build a national fibre-optic network in the country – aimed at providing broadband internet connectivity to the east African nation. The USD6 million deal will be implemented over the next decade, said TTCL chief executive Waziri Kindamba, noting that the tie-up will also allow his company to broaden its business portfolio in both east Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
‘TTCL will provide first class broadband internet services in Burundi through our stations in Kabanga and Manyovu in the border region of Kigoma,’ said Kindamba. He added that as a result of the agreement, landlocked Burundi will now be connected across the world and that access to new internet services will ‘ease and improve business’ between the neighbouring countries – both of which are member states of the East African Community (EAC) along with Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.