Uganda–Rwanda Fibre Link Completed at Mirama Hills Border

Mirama Hills border post

Uganda and Rwanda have completed the physical interconnection of their national fibre-optic networks at Mirama Hills, paving the way for faster and more reliable cross-border broadband services.

The development was disclosed at the Northern Corridor Integration Projects implementation clusters meeting at Mestil Hotel in Kampala, attended by officials from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan.

“Earlier this year, Uganda and the Republic of Rwanda made the final connection at Mirama Hills on the fibre-optic network,” said Richard Kabonero, head of NCIP at Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While infrastructure on both sides is ready, telecom operators and other service providers must conclude commercial and capacity agreements before activating the link.

“The broadband interconnection at Mirama Hills is ready. There is infrastructure from both sides,” a technical official said. “We are urging service providers to begin utilising the available capacity.”

The connection will provide alternative routes for internet traffic, strengthen network resilience and improve access to international undersea cables.

It forms part of a regional programme to lower internet costs and integrate digital services across participating countries.

Uganda and Kenya have also completed a fibre-optic connection at Busia but must finalise an agreement between Uganda’s National Information Technology Authority and Kenya’s Information and Communication Technology Authority before commercial services begin.

The regional links support plans for an East African single digital market covering telecommunications, mobile financial services, government e-services and data sharing.

The ICT cluster also reported that the One Network Area for voice, SMS and data across Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania had driven a more than 900-fold increase in roaming traffic.