Cable vandalism is costing Telkom Kenya approximately $23 million annually, the company has said.
Telkom Kenya’s chief executive Mickael Ghossein made this statement after vandals on Friday damaged underground copper cables leading to the East African country’s parliament and police general headquarters in Nairobi.
The underground copper cables were damaged directly opposite the parliament buildings, disrupting communication services for about 5000 people.
Telkom Kenya says repairs to the cables could take seven days.
"We are currently sourcing for cables to replace the vandalised section,” said Mr Ghossein.
Vandalism of undergound cables is common in Kenya as criminals, who are looking to steal valuable copper wires, target telcos terrestial infrastructure.
The scourge of cable vandalism has become a huge challenge to telcos in the East African region and especially in Kenya, said Danson Njue, a telecommunications analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media.
“It is estimated that the country experiences at least 10 cable cuts per day,” said Njue.
“Orange Kenya, the country’s third largest mobile operator has recently disclosed that it incurs losses of at least $5.97 million per year due to cable vandalism.
“Telcos have also been forced to increase the security surveillance on their networks so as to reduce the theft cases - this has certainly affected their plans to expand broadband services in the underserved...areas,” Njue added.
Kenya’s attorney general Githu Muigai has proposed to parliament to review the penalties for such offenders to life in prison or a KES10 million fine.
Telkom Kenya is Kenya’s is 51% owned by France Telecom, with the rest of the stake being held by the Kenya government.
The company has substantial shareholding in both the TEAMs and Eassy submarine cables and has over 4,400 terrestrial fibre infrastructure that runs across Kenya, translating into the largest telecoms infrastructure footprint within that country.
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