Kenya Data Network has contracted an Israeli Company ECI Telecom to upgrade its infrastructure. This was done on a budget of $4million (Kshs. 320 Million) to make the KDN networks infrastructure a redundant one. The upgrade is also set to see the deployment of a self-supporting, fully-meshed network that will be able to meet increased traffic and provide a Quality of Service to all KDN network customers. Sound like a good plan, considering the suffering many users get when there is a huge outage of networks.
The ISP saw the need to upgrade its service due to a recent spat of network outages to their clients due to increased fibre cuts and breakdowns. The company aims to increase capacity, resilience and flexibility that will incorporate user-friendly line switching and route selection so as to enable seamless data transmission.
All work conducted previously on the network will be re-evaluated and re-done where necessary to ensure proper routing and splicing. Part of the upgrade includes the latest technology to improve the self-healing capability of the fibre network. This has been necessitated by the high number of sabotage and construction related cuts experienced daily. The company had already embarked on the project and was looking to work within the timelines set to deliver a quality service. The upgrade exercise which is already ongoing, is expected to last for three years and will result in better network security and response times to fibre cuts.
