Kenya: SEACOM acquires Hirani Telecom’s metro fibre network in Kenya

SEACOM, a pan-African telecom services provider has fully acquired Hirani Telecom’s metro fibre network. Hirani is one of Kenya’s fastest-growing triple play service providers, and the largest last-mile provider in the region.

According to a statement, the metro fibre network will be incorporated into SEACOM’s existing metro network in Nairobi, and will be under its full control.

The acquisition is part of SEACOM’s ongoing strategy in the region to grow its on-net capabilities, and provide its enterprise customers with world-class connectivity, said the statement.

“This is a first step towards ensuring we can provide end-to-end solutions for our customers across the region. We will be able to offer more competitive services, bring new, innovative solutions to market faster, and guarantee the highest quality of connectivity and service delivery,” explained Steve Briggs, CSMO at SEACOM.

“The acquisition of Hirani’s metro fibre network dramatically boosts SEACOM’s operations and sets the stage for the expansion of our business services in the region. The world is rapidly changing, and customers need the service, quality, and availability that SEACOM is known for providing,” he added.

Hirani Telecom owns two purpose-built, carrier-neutral national metro networks. The first is used to service its home users with Internet and content, and this will be retained by Hirani, which will continue operations as usual.

The second network, which is being acquired by SEACOM, will be dedicated solely to SEACOM’s enterprise customers. There will be no disruption or customer migration, as customers are already running o‌n this network.

Also commenting, SEACOM’s Group CEO, Oliver Fortuin, said: “SEACOM Kenya has been using Hirani’s metro network to provide last-mile services to our enterprise customers. As the o‌nly provider o‌n this network, it was a natural progression for us to buy the network and cut out the middle man. This will give us a competitive advantage in the market and will enable us to offer our customers better services, and tailored solutions.”

“We already connect Kenya to the rest of the world, and now our Nairobi customers will be able to connect directly to the source. The expansion will also open up new markets for us,” he concludes.