This archive report was first published on 10 September 2019.
Outgoing Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) Director-General Francis Wangusi recently claimed that telcos in Kenya were shying away from investing in infrastructure, instead channelling resources to application services. However, a closer look at the infrastructure spending of mobile network operators in Kenya paints a mixed picture of Wangusi's claim.
According to Safaricom's 2018 annual report, the company invested Sh36.3 billion in capex, up from Sh35.3 billion spent over a similar period in 2017. Most of these investments have gone towards network upgrades and expansion of the firm's fibre network.
As of 2018, Safaricom's dedicated fibre network had grown by almost 20 per cent year-on-year for the past half-decade, surpassing 5,000 kilometres. The firm has more than doubled fixed data subscribers from 48,267 in 2017 to 109,925 as at the end of 2018.
CA statistics indicate that Safaricom is poised to take the market lead in the fixed data market by the end of this year, surpassing Wananchi Online that has held the lead for close to two decades.
Telkom Kenya has also invested Sh5 billion over the past two years on the upgrade of its network, expanding its 4G network to 19 new towns and installing 500 new base stations.
However, the infrastructure rollout has so far been characterised by investment on 4G networks, meaning mobile data will remain Kenyans' main point of accessing an Internet connection going forward.
This is a different Internet market structure than telecoms markets in Europe and North America, where fixed broadband infrastructure penetration among households stands at 83 and 87 per cent respectively compared to 7.4 per cent in Africa.
While telcos in Kenya are putting in investment towards strengthening their mobile networks, more work needs to be done in advancing fibre investment, particularly to the last mile.
