WASP Africa was established in 2005 with the primary objective of creating and developing a platform and medium through use of SMS (Short Messaging Service) and Value-Added-Services to the mobile phone networks in Kenya and later in other parts of Africa. Wasp Africa connected to both mobile phone networks, Safaricom and Airtel, in February 2006 through a dedicated 1Mb fiber optic link from its offices. Connections are now up with the other two networks, Orange and Yu. These direct connections are of tremendous advantage in providing a more reliable connection to the networks and as such helps in avoiding throughput challenges when networks are congested.