Kenyan domain registration company, Kenya Network Information Centre (KeNIC), has announced it will host local (.ke) domains at the East African Data Centre (EADC).

KeNIC used to host domains on its own in-house servers, but several challenges have impacted on operations, according to the company.

"Previously Internet connectivity and dependence on generators during power outages were some of the challenges affecting KeNIC's operations. These problems will now be a thing of the past as a result of collocating our servers to EADC," said KeNIC CEO Abdalla Omari.

Dan Kwach, General Manager at EADC said. "KeNIC can now focus on its core business. It should not be investing more on cooling, power and security just to host its servers. Let KeNIC focus on registering domains, and using more resources to sensitise the market on the advantages of registering locally."

According to the latest figures available, there are 52 000 local domains registered and the goal is to increase this number to 1 million. Industry experts say this is achievable if more companies and SMEs embrace the internet.

KeNIC has referred to the East African country's national broadband strategy and said that the government needs to migrate 75% of registered businesses online by 2017.

Both KeNIC and EADC expect the domain hosting agreement will improve service uptime and enhance service delivery to domain owners.