Kenya Data Networks (KDN) says it has become the first internet services provider to connect all East African capital cities via fibre cable networks.

This is after KDN has announced its completed 120 km fibre connection running from Nairobi to Namanga, which is situated on the Kenya-Tanzania border. As a result, KDN says its networks reach Nairobi in Kenya, Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, Kampala in Uganda and Kigali in Rwanda.

And the development comes barely three months after KDN was acquired by South Africa’s Liquid Telecom, in a deal that saw the latter claiming it had become ‘Africa’s largest fibre network provider’.

Liquid says its network extends 13,000 km from Cape Town to East Africa.

"We believe that technology should be for everyone and completion of the Namanga fibre will be another major milestone in consolidating Liquid's fibre coverage as the widest in Africa and confirming our position as the leading pan-African communications connectivity provider," says Nic Rudnick, chief executive officer of Liquid Telecom.

The Kenya-Tanzania connection is further said to ‘strengthen’ the internet connection between East Africa and Southern Africa, as the traffic between the two regions no longer has to be re-routed via Europe.

The connection also helps Tanzania with backup connectivity between Dar-es-Salaam and Mombasa, in the event of a cable damage that has vastly affected the country previously.