Rwanda is set to become a modern communication centre in December following the laying of fibre optic cables.

Manzi Olivier Rwaka, a member of the infrastructure team at Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA), told Sunday Times on Thursday that the on-going Kigali fibre optic cable laying is in line with the government’s ambitions of facilitating and expanding modern communication in the country.

In an interview at RITA offices, he explained that the installation of Wireless Broadband and fibre optic cable (FOC) in Kigali City, Butare, Gisenyi, Ruhengeri and Rwamagana is being done by Korean company KT Corporation.

Rwaka said the Government funded project aims to provide open, non-discriminatory access and affordable broadband capacity in the country.

"The fibre optic cable is widely expected to offer lower tariffs for international connectivity,” he said.

Rwaka added that the work is being supervised by MTN, Rwandatel and RITA itself to avoid disruption of the current communication network.

A communications expert from MTN who preferred to speak on the condition of anonymity said that the implementation of the project could cut airtime tariffs by three quarters.

"The current use of satellite links in telecommunication systems is expensive and limits many people access to information compared to the cable system,” he explained.

He further added that the project will allow the country to handle a larger volume of international communication.

"With the cable in the country, all mobile operators, internet service providers and TV subscribers will have the opportunity to connect to the East African Community (EAC) at affordable rates,” he clarified.

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