Kenya Has Good 4G Penetration Ahead of 5G Launch

Safaricom recently released its half year results for the year 2022 which revealed key data. As per the report, more Kenyans are embracing 4G with the network coverage increasing in the country. The firm has since promised to hit the 100 percent 4G cover promise in the near future.

Furthermore, data revenue grew 6.3%. 4G-capable phones accessing the Safaricom network grew 37.3% to 9.7 million. 4G phones that use more than 1 GB of data grew 22.2 percent YoY to 4.7 million, which represents 48 percent of all 4G devices.

Safaricom has also announced that it will be replenishing the Lipa Mdogo Mdogo catalog with new phones, including the Tecno Camon 17 and Spark 7. The plan has so far sold 400K phones, effectively availing phones to groups that cannot afford to outrightly purchase one at a full price.

Lipa Mdogo Mdogo phones are available after paying a KES 1000 deposit; the rest of the fees are cleared for as low as KES 20 per day.

Safaricom mobile data is the most used product from the telco in the country. The telco has millions of subscribers, and following extensive investment in the space, Safaricom has been able to push LTE coverage to 96%.

3G and 2G population coverage now stand at 96% and 97% respectively. Safaricom have bigger plans for the near future as well. The telco will officially launch 5G sites across the country, including in Western Kenya

Now, according to the results, distinct data bundle customers jumped 8.1% to 17 million. Data customers that use more than 1 GB of data have also grown 26.7% to 6.8 million

Safaricom adds that its effective rate per MB has been reduced as it focuses on affordability. It adds to the company’s past attempts of making its data offering more appealing (data without expiry was launched back in 2019)

And lately, the company announced plans to launch a 1 GB bundle for KES 20, but it only lasts for an hour. The same plan will also see access to 1.5 GB of data for KES 50 with a validity of three hours.