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Is Mombasa 100G Metro Wave Pricing Sustainable Long Term?

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Probably not. Right now carriers are charging $7K to $9K per month for a 100G wave linking IColo1 and IColo2. This is the pricing of a cozy oligopoly, not a competitive market. Moreover, the carriers have inflated their costs by using brand name hardware when comparable products like Smart Optics offer 50% to 60% discounts on both the price tag and operating expenses (there is good Layer 1 networking gear with no recurring costs in the form of port activation fees or licensing). I can refer you to a smart optics VAR. In contrast, you can lease today recently manufactured dark fibre pairs between IColo 1 and IColo 2 for $1,100 per month for the 18 kilometer primary path and $1,400 for the 23 kilometer backup path. So for $2,500 a month on a 3 year contract you can get a fully diverse fibre ring between these two important data centers. Moreover, it is unlikely you need long range optics. Each fibre pair can do 10 to 20 terabits.
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My Advice To East Africa Cable Capacity Buyers: Don't Over Shop

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***Next year we should get 2Africa finally connected to Marseille. But the cost and hence pricing of those links will be relatively high because the consortium must pay and operate terrestrial bypass from either Djibouti or Mombasa to the Sudan 2Africa CLS. Market pricing will decline from current levels, but probably not as much as the majority expects. ***Many of you are over shopping. For example, 2Africa market pricing between JB and Mombasa ranges from upper twenties to lower 40s. Real negotiation is give and take. Not just ask. You want lower price, then prepare to offer long terms or enlarge the deal. You will fail in procurement if your standard opening line is 'give me the lower price possible'. ***When you get a great offer, take it. The East Coast is a tight market. Don't take that offer back to other carriers and try to beat them down. It's annoying and alienates vendors. It is also amateurish. Your focus should be long term relationships, not short term opp...
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Most Last Mile Fiber Access In Nairobi And Mombasa Is Via Power Poles And GPON Architecture

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This device is probably a GPON fiber splitter that takes a fiber pair and splits into many fiber pairs to serve individual homes or buildings. These devices are ubiquitous in Kenya. GPON stands for gigabit passive optical network. It is a point-to-multipoint fibre architecture that requires no power at the premise. The use of passive devices greatly simplifies the network and reduces deployment costs.
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Singapore Stay: September 21-25

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Hi Everyone, I will be in Singapore next week and am available to meet. You can reach me at roderick.beck@networksourcing.net .
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2Africa Djibouti CLS/JB1 100G Wave: $36K MRC

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Term: 2 Years. 2Africa Djibouti CLS cross connects are $125 per month and 100G backhaul to Djibouti Data Center is $1100 per month. 
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Mumbai/Singapore Bay of Bengal Gateway 100G Wave: $38.5K MRC

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A point: Most carrier neutral Mumbai data centers. Z point: SG1, Singapore. Term: 1 Year. NRC: $10K.
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Lessons From 2026 ITW Africa Conference In Nairobi

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1. Hyperscalers are worried that a capacity shortage will materialize two or three years down the road due to robust traffic growth and the absence of any major subsea cable project in the pipeline. Their network investment teams are studying the issue. 2. 2Africa is bypassing the Red Sea by building Northeast African routes that will connect either Mombasa to the Sudan 2Africa CLS in the Red Sea or a route from Djibouti to the same CLS. Decision has not yet been made. 3. 2Africa from Mombasa to Marseille should be live next summer. This will bring relief to carriers and ISPs alike. 4. Africa-1 project is struggling and may be out of funds. 5. Mombasa is the subsea cable hub, but Nairobi is the data center for Kenya. 6. Excess capacity on Equiano and 2Africa exists and ISPs should stock up before the Telecom Winter arrives.
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