Safaricom has expanded the coverage of its super-fast fifth-generation (5G) network to all of Kenya’s 47 counties with the opening of 311 new sites within the past four months, which has seen the telco’s total launched 5G sites hit 1,114, up from 803 as of March this year.
In an update yesterday, Safaricom said its 5G network now covers 14 percent of the national population, with sites situated in 102 towns, which has seen the number of 5G smartphones served rise to 780,000, of which 11,000 are enterprise customers.
“Safaricom remains committed to leading Kenya’s digital transformation through the provision of a worry-free, always-on ubiquitous network enabling access to information, critical services, and communication, therefore bridging the digital divide,” said chief executive Peter Ndegwa.
“We believe that the benefits of 5G will be a key catalyst in leapfrogging other innovations, industries and Kenya’s digital economy.”
Safaricom overtook its main rival Airtel in the rollout of 5G sites in March, when it reportedly activated 803 of them, which dwarfed the 690 that the latter was running last month.
This was a reversal of last year’s position where Airtel boasted more locations that support the new-age technology at 370 against Safaricom’s 205, meaning that the Ndegwa-led telco’s aggressive drive has seen it set up 909 more sites within the period.
As of last month, Airtel’s 5G coverage spread across 39 counties, up from 16 last year.
Safaricom has set an ambitious target of expanding the number of sites to over 1,700 by the close of March 2025 as it seeks to sustain its current lead in the fast-growing market.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that during the 12 months to March 2024, mobile data subscribers onboarded to the 5G network grew 74 percent to hit 653,716, up from 373,537 as of March 2023.
The trend, which points to an enhanced appetite for high Internet speeds in the wake of rapidly evolving technologies, has been upward-looking since the network was first launched for local use by Safaricom in October 2022.
5G technology is faster than the currently widely available 4G. Still, it requires high-end smart gadgets in addition to expensive data bundles that are out of reach for the majority of users.
5G technology, however, continues to be out of reach for a majority of users since it requires more expensive gadgets in addition to equally expensive data bundles.
