ADDIS ABABA: The Ugandan government ordered a probe into the national fiber optic project currently being developed by China's Huawei Technologies in the country. According to New Vision in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni has sent a letter to Prime Minister Amama that reportedly says he had “received intelligence information that Huawei used inferior cable type G-652 instead of type G-655." The president claims that if this is true, the new fiber cable backbone would not be equipped to handle the kind of traffic it was designed for. The president's letter also says that the “cables were buried at a shallow depth of 0.9 meters" and this could create problems with vandalism and other threats to the network's security. The network saw Rwanda spend $38 million to cover a distance of 2,300 kilometers to connect 35 sites. Uganda will spend over $62 million to cover 2,100 km. “This means Rwanda spent $16,521 per kilometer while the cost to Ugandans is $29,523 per kilometer, which ICT experts say is inflated," reported New Vision. Museveni said he has intelligence claiming “that there were efforts to steal money from the government by inflating the costs involved in digital migration for broadcasting." It is unclear what course of action would be taken if the government's intelligence is proven correct.
