NAIROBI, Kenya, May 26 – The war against cable vandals went a notch higher on Wednesday when Telkom Kenya introduced a new dress code for technicians working on its sites.
The new Orange branded uniforms will be critical in tightening the noose around people practicing the vice since security agents will easily be able to identify legitimate Telkom Kenya technicians working on site.
Telkom Kenya Chief Executive Officer Mickael Ghossein confirmed that the firm had retained a large workforce of over 1,200 security agents and enlisted the assistance of several neighbourhood groups in community policing.
“It became necessary for us to heighten the fight against vandalism by giving our field technicians a uniform identity that will identify them when they are at work, thereby giving the vandals less space to operate in,” he added.
Mr Ghossein noted that the company had invested in the new dress code as it was critical for the fight to preserve its telecommunication infrastructure. This, he explained, was because the firm was nearly concluding a nationwide switch upgrade exercise. By the end of this month we will have completed the process,” he said.
The switch upgrade is necessary following a recent adoption of an intelligent converged network coupled with Telkom Kenya’s appointment to commercialise the National Optical Fibre Infrastructure (NOFBI) by the government which in all enables the firm to deliver fast, reliable and affordable voice and data services to Kenyans across the country.
“This is an exercise that is very critical to the modernisation of our fixed line service, which remains very close to people’s hearts,” he noted.
He pointed out that the security and safety of the national telecommunications infrastructure was at the core of national security and announced optimistically that the firm had established a joint task force with the police and other stakeholders. “Top on our agenda is to ensure that the government criminalises cable vandalism and institutes harsher penalties for the crime. We will also be seeking other punishments that we hope will serve as deterrents to potential criminals,” said Mr Ghossein
