Project Link is an initiative to connect more people in Kampala to the Web using a super-fast, high-capacity fiber network to enable any local mobile operator or Internet service provider (ISP) to connect more people in Kampala to a faster, more reliable Internet. This project is part of Google’s larger efforts to help get Africa online.
Google has other similar projects in Africa aimed to improve internet access mainly in Sub Saharan Africa. Some of them included the TV White Spaces trial in Cape Town, South Africa which explores how TV White Spaces technology could be put to use elsewhere on the continent. It helps provide Wi-Fi on over 80 university campuses.
Google works on peering and caching with network operators in nearly 30 countries to deliver Google content and services to users efficiently and cost-effectively.
Google has also provided grants to organisations such as the Network StartupResource Centre, Nigeria ICT Forum, the Tertiary Education and Research Network(TENET) of South Africa, and the Internet Society for their internet access work in Africa.
According to the Chief Technology Officer of Orange Uganda, the partnership with Google will enable Orange to expand thier network capacities; thus helping them achieve ambition to provide users with the best network coverage and high-quality services.
He said
“We want our customers in Uganda to access the Internet without capacity constraints, so they can send large files, upload video, download software updates, and more,”
The Chief Executive Officer of Roke Telkom Roger Sekaziga, commented on this initiative and said
“We are pleased to be working with Google on their Uganda initiative. We believe this collaboration will give us the flexibility to scale our operations with reduced incremental capital expenditure. This will allow us to leverage their platform to address niche markets. Ultimately, we think the consumer will be the beneficiary of these higher speed tiers.”
“Project Link is an exciting development for the city of Kampala and surrounding regions,” said the CEO of One…Solutions, Claude Vendette. “It’s an opportunity for us to build on top of better infrastructure and provide our customers in Uganda robust access to the Internet, larger bandwidth, and continue to deliver new services that allow better overall productivity.”
Well, I think it will make the infrastructure of the local place more stronger as internet is the cheapest way of communication.
True that but it hasn’t set off since then… we are still waiting and i guess we continue to wait some more