The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has laid 1,300 kilometres of the targeted 2,500 kilometres of fibre optic cable that will improve internet connectivity in rural areas of the country.
The Sh5 billion project, funded by the Universal Service Fund (USF), is being undertaken by CA in partnership with the ICT Authority (ICTA) and Kenya Power, and will facilitate last-mile connectivity to at least 3,800 public offices and institutions in 19 of Kenya’s 47 counties.
The USF, which is mainly funded from levies on licensees alongside a number of other sources such as appropriations from the government, grants and donations, is designed to support the widespread access to ICT services, promote capacity building and drive innovation in ICT services in the country.
CA Director-General David Mugonyi has noted that broadband access in underserved areas will unlock socio-economic development by accelerating business growth and formation, particularly in knowledge-intensive industries, adding that this in turn will lead to greater access to new ideas, supply chains, and customers.
“Today, connectivity is the biggest driver of the global economy. Without robust, secure, and competitive telecommunications markets, Africa’s participation and capacity to exploit the opportunities of a rapidly expanding digital economy are significantly constrained,” he said.
Mr Mugonyi further noted that over the past five years, the CA has deployed Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) to provide mobile connectivity to over 130 sub-locations, effectively extending coverage to over 750,000 people in 24 counties.
In the upcoming second phase of the mobile connectivity project, the regulator targets an additional 101 unserved and underserved sub-locations spread across 19 marginalised counties, with subsequent phases expected to reach an extra 400 sub-locations.
The investment comes at a time when demand for internet in the Kenyan market continues to soar as digitalisation takes shape and connectivity increasingly becomes a basic need for the population.
The changing landscape has seen consumers bag some early wins with providers falling over each other in a popularity contest to gain a significant foothold in the lucrative market.
In the ongoing clamour, internet service providers (ISPs) are deploying a raft of strategies, including tweaking their pricing models, improving their connectivity experience and a host of other enhancements to meet evolving customer preferences.
The latest data from CA shows that Safaricom dominates the fixed internet market with a 37.4 percent market share as of March, with its closest rival, Jamii Telecommunications Limited (JTL), trailing at a distant 22.6 percent.
During the first three months of the year, total fixed internet subscriptions grew 4.9 percent to 1.4 million, up from 1.3 million as of last December, with CA figures indicating that the international internet bandwidth in the country increased by 20 percent to 20,744.34 gigabytes per second (Gbps) during the period.
