Kenyans are enjoying the best mobile network in Africa, according to an independent industry analyst, Akamai Technologies, which helps speed up content delivery over the Internet.
The industry leaders ranked the Kenyan network as the best, beating mobile telephony and Internet infrastructure in the African leading economies of Ghana, South Africa and Egypt.
Kenya’s leading telco, Safaricom, is the biggest player in that space. In 2016, the telco spent Sh35 billion to build the most robust network in the region, said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom on May 10th at the release of the 2017 Full Year results.
“The sustained investment in our network is yielding benefits for our customers,” said Collymore. “Kenya’s internet was recently ranked the fastest in Africa by Akamai in their State of the Internet report. The report notes that this is due to heavy investments in networks.”
The firm has continuously improved its network and now boasts over 4,600 base stations that cover over 90 per cent of the Kenyan population.
In addition, the firm rolled out a record 1,100 4G stations last year, marking the most rapid rollout of base stations in this company’s history.
“We have also started delivering the network of the future through 4G and fibre,” said Collymore.
Last year, Safaricom was named top African mobile operator of the year in the annual CommsMEA Awards — CommsMEA is a leading Middle Eastern publication that focuses on the telecoms sector. The award recognizes mobile operators who have continued to develop, improve, and innovate mobile services while growing the penetration rate and improving customer experience.
The sustained investment in our network is yielding benefits for our customers. Kenya’s internet was recently ranked the fastest in Africa by Akamai in their State of the Internet report. The report notes that this is due to heavy investments in networks. Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO
Safaricom now contributes around 6.5 per cent of Kenya’s GDP annually and employs around 845,000 Kenyans.
“We continue to focus on building a resilient business that can weather the regulatory and economic forces that are currently shaping the commercial environment. We believe in the vast, untapped potential of the Kenyan economy, and we will leverage increasingly intimate customer insights alongside deep investments in critical technologies to drive a long-term strategy for growth,” Collymore said.
He added that Safaricom remains steadfast in delivering its corporate strategy, guided by three key pillars; putting their customers first, providing relevant products, and enhancing their operational excellence.
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“This has continued to grow our loyal customer base and produce excellent results across our key financial and commercial performance indicators,” said Collymore.
Service revenue grew by 14.8 per cent toSh 204.1 billion, driven predominantly by growth in active users and increased usage of non–voice services, mainly M-PESA and Mobile data. Non-voice service revenue accounted for 54.2 per cent of service revenue, recording a growth of 27.3 per cent to Sh110.7 billion. Overall,voice service revenue now stands at 45.8 per cent of service revenue and remained resilient in the year, growing by 2.9 per cent to Sh93.5 billion.
