Landlocked Uganda is getting two Points of Presence (PoP) facilities from African network service provider SEACOM.

PoP infrastructure enables networks to access the internet through an interconnection point with long-distance carriers. This in turn helps with more direct and resilient connections to global communications interconnection points, boosting internet speeds as a result.

SEACOM says after the Uganda Communications Commission issued SEACOM Uganda with ‘Public Infrastructure Provider licenses’, the network service provider plans to offer its full telecom services in the East African country.

And Uganda’s first SEACOM PoP is located at Airtel House in the capital Kampala while a second location is expected to be confirmed soon.

“These PoPs will be directly connected through ring-switched backhaul links through Nairobi to Mombasa and then on to the SEACOM international subsea cable network,” says SEACOM in a statement.

Deployment of PoPs will further enable connections with the likes of Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan, says SEACOM. SEACOM launched Africa’s first broadband submarine cable system along the eastern and southern coastlines in 2009.

“Our new license allows us to own and operate our network all the way between Kampala and our international network. This will help bring more global connectivity to Uganda while improving the quality of the broadband experience for Ugandans,” said Byron Clatterbuck, chief commercial officer at SEACOM.

According to Net Index data from March 2014, Uganda’s average internet download speed is 5.09 Mbps. Although, this data risks being skewed by inhabitants in urban areas with better infrastructure conducting these speed tests.

Meanwhile, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) statistics say Uganda had 5,818,864 internet users in December 2013, or 16.2% of the population.