3.1.2 BACKBONE INFRASTRUCTURE Although some operators have built their own microwave and fibre backbone links in some areas, Somalia does not have an open competitive market in national and international capacity - a necessary precursor to the development of the ICT sector. As a result, growth in Internet-use is also constrained by both the high cost of international bandwidth and the lack of a domestic fiber optic backbone infrastructure outside of Mogadishu to link the landing stations to the other cities and towns across the country. Once a pervasive national fibre backbone is in place, Somalia’s strategic geographic location and multiple international cable links can be leveraged to the benefit of the domestic ICT industry and the public. Somalia is close to several major undersea cable networks which connect Europe, the Middle East, India and the Gulf of Aden. To maximise this potential an open stance will be taken on licensing cable landing stations, and competitive international gateways will be encouraged. International connectivity in Somalia has already improved in recent years with the landing of the EASSy submarine cable in Mogadishu and Somcable’s terrestrial fiber link to Djibouti, which takes advantage of the large number of submarine cables there to obtain low cost international capacity. In addition, the cable landing in Bosasso from Oman is used by Golis Telecom and terrestrial fiber networks from Kenya and Ethiopia have been extended to the Somali border. In the future, the Djibouti Africa Regional Express (DARE) cable initiative will connect Djibouti, with Berbera, Bosaso, Mogadishu and Mocha (Yemen). In addition, the PEACE and AfricaOne cables and other international submarine fiber optic cables running along the East Coast, are also expected to become present in the Somali market, such as SEACOM, and TEAMs. Deployment of domestic fibre infrastructure to connect the urban areas is a top priority, necessary to ensure inclusion of the whole country in access to affordable Internet services. Wherever feasible, the national backbone network will prioritize deployment of fiber optic cable, due to its superior network capacity - meeting the expected demand in large urban locations will be economically infeasible using non-fiber solutions such as satellite or microwave radio links. Nevertheless, in the interim before terrestrial infrastructure becomes available, and for remote rural areas as well as for TV broadcasting and backup links, traditional satellite connectivity will continue to play an important role. In the future, new high altitude platforms (HAPs) and constellations of low earth orbit satellites (LEOs) may disrupt the existing market with new low cost broadband services. Initial estimates indicate that the envisaged fibre optic backbone network would cost between US$67-100 million to build. Combining network deployment with planned road reconstruction would provide substantial cost savings on this estimate, while reaching additional smaller cities and rural areas, as well as improving network resilience, in subsequent phases, will require additional investment. 12