On 9 April 2025, it was announced in parliament that the Tanzanian government has begun to take steps to implement the construction of a 186-kilometre fibre optic cable from Kigoma (Tanzania) to Kalemie (Democratic Republic of Congo) through Lake Tanganyika. The National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) shows a planned submarine cable from Kigoma to Kalemie on its network roll-out map. The government also said that it has continued to implement the NICTBB whereby by February 2025, 13,820 kilometers out of 16,280 have been constructed, connecting 109 out of 139 districts with 111 communication service centers (see also Tanzania: TTCL Awards Contract To Huawei To Expand NICTBB Fibre Backbone By 1,520-Km). Meanwhile, BCS announced last month the completion of a submarine fibre optic cable running from Uvira to Kalemie in Eastern DRC (see DRC: BCS Completes 400-Km Lake Tanganyika Submarine Cable Project), and last year the governments of Burundi and Zambia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a bilateral submarine fibre optic connection between the two countries through Lake Tanganyika (see Burundi: Zambia and Burundi Sign MoU For Fibre Optic Link Through Lake Tanganyika).
Source: Tanzania Parliamentary Hansard
Comments are closed!