Synopsis
The landing of three fibre-optic international submarine cables in Kenya in 2009 and 2010, ending its dependency on limited and expensive satellite bandwidth, has revolutionised the country’s internet and broadband sector. Prices for international wholesale bandwidth have fallen by more than 90%, finally taking the internet to the mass market. However, ISPs have only reluctantly passed on the cost savings to end customers, which has prompted the industry regulator to consider price caps.
Companies that started out as ISPs – such as AccessKenya, Kenya Data Networks and Wananchi – are transforming themselves into second-tier telecom companies by rolling out national and metropolitan fibre backbones and wireless broadband access networks, offering converged voice, data and video/entertainment services. At least six major deployments of WiMAX technology are underway, and third generation mobile broadband services with up to 7.2Mb/s have been launched. Advanced services such as IPTV/triple-play, e-commerce, e-learning and e-government are now rapidly evolving. In addition, with its new majority shareholder France Telecom, Telkom Kenya has embarked on a strategy to transform itself into a true broadband connectivity provider under the Orange brand.
