DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 30 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — THE governments of Tanzania and Uganda have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth 28.8 million US dollars (equivalent to 71.7bn/-) to integrate Tanzania’s National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) with the Ugandan National ICT Backbone Infrastructure (NBI).
The MoU will last for 15 years and will be implemented by TTCL Corporation and National Information Technology Authority, Uganda (NITA-U).
The signing of the agreement was done between TTCL Director General Peter Ulanga and the National Information Technology Authority (NITA) Executive Director Dr Hatwib Mugasa and witnessed by Minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye and Ugandan Minister for ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi.
Speaking after signing the documents, Nape said that the MoU will stimulate the use of ICT between the two countries.
He said the MoU will strengthen the brotherhood and neighbourhood between the two countries and help in promoting trade and economic growth.
“The agreement is the result of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s recent visit to Uganda where she agreed with her Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni to integrate the ICT backbones of the two countries to have better internet services,” he said.
He directed TTCL to manage and provide quality services as per agreement, insisting that there should be no complaint related to access to the service.
He said Uganda selecting Tanzania to utilise the service of the country’s National ICT backbone is a good decision which will strengthen the ICT infrastructure.
Nape said Tanzania has been able to convince the East African Community partner state to be connected to NICTBB, including Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and currently Uganda.
“In the Southern Africa Development Community, we have managed to convince other countries, including Malawi and Zambia and on the part of Mozambique, we have already delivered services to the border of Tanzania and Mozambique and we are waiting for our colleagues to connect at Mtambaswala area,” said Nape.
Moreover, he said Congo is proceeding with initial implementation and they expect to connect the country through Lake Tanganyika to the border of Kalemie province.
The Uganda Minister for ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi said the two countries have a similar vision of ensuring that the countries are connected.
He said the agreement will lead to reduction of costs of doing business in Uganda by 50-per cent, hence providing employment to the citizenry.
“This is an achievement for the East African region, we will now be able to connect other countries such as South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),” he said.
The TTCL Director General, Eng Peter Ulanga said the presence of NICTBB in the East African regions has been a catalyst in bringing about major developmental reforms in various economic, commercial and social sectors as well as security.
“Our organisation will continue to manage and run this infrastructure professionally so that it continues to bring benefits to our country as well as to our neighbours around us,” said Eng Ulanga.
He said NICTBB is connected to submarine cables through SEACOM and EASSY to enable Uganda to strengthen communication with other countries in the world.
Further, Eng Ulanga invited NITA-U and the government of Uganda to use the National Internet Data Centre (NIDC) to store their data in a centre with Tier 3 quality and level. ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInPinterestShare via EmailPrint
