Google has announced an ambitious new fiber optic cable project called “Umoja” that will create an intercontinental undersea cable network connecting Kenya to South Africa and then spanning across the Indian Ocean all the way to Australia’s west coast.
The new cable system will have landings in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa before going subsea to reach Australia. As the Swahili name suggests, Umoja means “unity” and aims to unify these countries with improved internet connectivity.
“I am delighted to welcome Google’s investment in digital connectivity, marking a historic milestone for Kenya, Africa, and Australia. The new intercontinental fiber optic route will significantly enhance our global and regional digital infrastructure,” said Kenya’s President William Ruto.
Improved Internet Redundancy for Africa
The announcement comes on the heels of a major internet outage earlier this month across East and South Africa caused by cuts to several undersea cable systems like EASSy, Seacom, EIG, and AAE1 in the Red Sea area.
Countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda experienced extremely slow or interrupted internet access for days.
“This initiative is crucial in ensuring the redundancy and resilience of our region’s connectivity to the rest of the world, especially in light of recent disruptions caused by cuts to subsea cables,” President Ruto added.
With more internet infrastructure and cable systems in place, the regions will have improved redundancy and resilience, meaning users and businesses are less likely to face major internet disruptions and economic impacts in the event of future cable faults or service outages.
The Need for Faster Internet in Africa
Beyond just redundancy, the Umoja cable will provide much-needed upgrades to internet speeds and bandwidth for countries along the cable’s path. Many parts of Africa still suffer from relatively slow and unreliable internet infrastructure compared to other regions.
As of April 2024, Kenya ranked 108th in the world for mobile speeds and 166th for fixed broadband speeds, according to Speedtest Global.
In November 2023, Kenya’s median download speed for mobile internet was 21.78 megabits per second (Mbps), while fixed internet connections were 9.78 Mbps. Kenya’s average broadband internet speed is five times slower than South Africa’s 49.71 Mbps, and the global average is 48.61 Mbps
The high-capacity fiber optic lines in the Umoja cable will bring multi-terabyte bandwidth to connect these countries, allowing for faster internet speeds, lower latency, and improved support for bandwidth-intensive applications like video conferencing, streaming, cloud computing and more.
Google’s Growing Subsea Cable Investments
The tech giant has been investing heavily in subsea fiber optic cables over the past decade and a half to improve global internet infrastructure. Some of Google’s other major undersea cable projects include:
- The $300 million UNITY cable connecting Japan to the US west coast (2008)
- The PLCN cable down the west coast of Africa (2019)
- Numerous cable systems across the Atlantic connecting the US to Europe, like Dunant (2018) and Grace Hopper (2021)
- The recently announced Hunomoana and Tabua cables linking Fiji and French Polynesia to Australia and the US West Coast (2022)
With Umoja, Google is significantly expanding its internet infrastructure across the African continent and the Indian Ocean region. The new subsea cable will provide faster, more reliable internet for users while improving international connectivity between Africa and Australia.
Partnerships for Cybersecurity and AI
In addition to the Umoja cable, Google is signing an agreement with Kenya’s Ministry of Information Communications and the Digital Economy to pursue various future cybersecurity and AI initiatives.
One potential collaboration could see Kenya adopting Google Cloud’s CyberShield managed security services, which Israel implemented nationwide last year. CyberShield uses AI and analytics to proactively monitor for cyber threats and automate security response protocols.
The partnership also aims to develop Kenya’s AI capabilities for sectors like agriculture, financial services, and more. With improved connectivity from Umoja and enhanced cybersecurity and AI applications, the collaboration could unlock significant economic and technological opportunities for Kenya and East Africa.
