Bayobab Uganda has marked a significant milestone in the nation’s digital transformation journey by unveiling a state-of-the-art fibre optic route running along the Uganda Railway from Malaba to Kampala. This new infrastructure, stretching 260 kilometers, is more than just another cable in the ground-it’s a strategic digital expressway that promises to redefine connectivity for Uganda and the broader East African region.
The newly launched fibre optic route is ingeniously laid along the historic railway corridor, starting from Kampala, passing through Tororo, and extending to Malaba at the Kenyan border.
By leveraging the railway’s protected right-of-way, Bayobab has ensured that the cable is shielded from common risks associated with road-based deployments, such as accidental cuts during construction. This strategic placement not only guarantees greater reliability but also minimizes maintenance disruptions, ensuring a stable and uninterrupted network service for users along the route.
What sets this project apart is its direct connection to Kenya’s National Long Distance fibre infrastructure, which runs from Malaba to Mombasa along the Kenya Railways meter gauge route. This seamless interconnection at Malaba links Uganda directly to the global internet via the subsea cable landing stations in Mombasa.
For a landlocked country like Uganda, this means a shorter, faster, and more resilient path to international bandwidth, reducing latency and enhancing the quality of digital services for businesses and individuals alike.
The impact of this route extends far beyond urban centers. The fibre optic cable is designed to deliver high-capacity, reliable connectivity not only to Kampala but also to the rural and peri-urban communities along the railway corridor.
This opens up new opportunities for digital inclusion, enabling schools, health centers, and small businesses in towns like Tororo to access robust internet services previously out of reach. By bridging the digital divide, Bayobab’s initiative is set to empower local communities, support e-learning, facilitate e-commerce, and improve access to e-health services.
From a business perspective, the new fibre route is a boon for Uganda’s digital economy. It provides essential infrastructure for data centers, telecom operators, and hyperscale enterprises seeking to expand their footprint in East Africa.
With over 1 terabit per second of capacity, the route can handle the demands of modern digital applications, supporting everything from cloud computing to video streaming with ease. The redundancy offered by this alternative path also strengthens Uganda’s overall network resilience, ensuring that disruptions on one route do not cripple the nation’s connectivity.
Bayobab’s achievement is a testament to the power of strategic partnerships and innovative infrastructure planning. The project, constructed between December 2024 and February 2025, was delivered in record time thanks to close collaboration with the Uganda Railway Corporation and Bayobab’s experience in deploying secure, large-scale digital infrastructure.
This initiative is part of Bayobab’s broader vision to connect Africa through a robust, open-access fibre network, supporting the continent’s digital ambitions and integrating it more deeply with the global economy.
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