Richard Hechle, Managing Director of Dimension Data, East and West Africa.

Telco Systems, a leading provider of SDN/NFV, CE 2.0, MPLS and IP solutions, has announced a deal with Dimension Data to upgrade the technology service provider’s carrier Ethernet network in Kenya.

Dimension Data provides advanced Cloud, communication, connectivity and carrier services to public and private sector organisations in Kenya and other countries in the region, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.

The network upgrade, which is expected to be completed early next year, will see Telco Systems double the capacity of Dimension Data’s carrier Ethernet network in Kenya.

The companies say the network upgrade will boost the bandwidth and internet service speeds for local businesses and home users twofold at a time when the demand for connectivity in Kenya has risen by 5.1% between April and June amid stay-at-home measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the latest industry report from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) released earlier this month, subscriptions in the country increased to 40.9 million in the quarter ending June up from 38.9 million in the period ending March.

The regulator attributed the rise to increased demand for access to information online, coupled with transfer of more services to the digital space during the pandemic period. Among those who pushed the rise in Internet subscriptions are students, who have switched to online learning.

“We are pleased to build on our long standing relationship with Dimension Data in providing the continued expansion of the company’s network capacity and service offering,” states Ariel Efrati, CEO at Telco Systems.

Through this partnership, Telco Systems will deploy an additional several hundred units of its T-Marc 3348 demarcation devices, which the company describes as compact, high capacity demarcation devices featuring high port density for cost effective carrier Ethernet service connectivity.

Telco Systems adds that with SDN support for network configuration and modelling using NETCONF and YANG, the newly deployed T-Marc 3348 devices will enable Dimension Data to further its vision of enhancing customer experience through business automation.

“This network upgrade project clearly demonstrates the importance of network expansions for delivering reliable connectivity in emerging markets and ensuring business continuity as the demand for bandwidth continues to rise,” says Efrati.

Richard Hechle, Managing Director of Dimension Data, East and West Africa, says: “Our strategic partnership with Telco Systems, which spans over a decade and across multiple upgrades, is a key factor in the success of our network operations. Telco Systems has consistently delivered networking innovations that we need to cost effectively expand our service offering, improve our customer experience and promote automated operations.”