The Uganda government has planned to build an alternative route for the undersea cable via Mutukula in Tanzania to overcome the inconveniences caused to businesses by the persistent internet cable breakdown in Kenya.
In a statement released on August 7, the Director for Technical Services at National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) Peter Kahiigi, the government will embark on the project starting in November this year.
"Every time the fibre cables are damaged in Kenya we get affected, the Mutukula- Tanzania route will ensure that we have an alternative route to tackle this challenge", Kahiigi said.
The alternative route will be a welcome move by the players in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector that have for long suffered internet breakdown affecting their businesses.
Internet cafes and telecommunication companies are mostly affected when there is a disruption in internet connectivity.
ICT experts say middle-class professionals can today check their e-mails over wireless internet or portable modems in smart cafés across the country for a few dollars a month, Ugandans can access the internet on mobile phones costing less than $100 (Sh8, 700).
By 2010, the number of internet users in Uganda had risen to four million just over 10% of the population, according to the Uganda Communication commission.