This archive report was first published on 29 October 2019.
Kenya's internet is among the most expensive in the world, with the average cost of 1GB of mobile broadband data being 3.1% of the average monthly income, above the global benchmark of 2%.
According to a recent report by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), the high cost of internet in Kenya is due to the lack of shared infrastructure, with the two main companies, Safaricom and Airtel, installing their own infrastructure, such as communication masts, and meeting the cost solely.
The report notes that this lack of shared infrastructure is a major contributor to the high cost of internet in Kenya, with the average cost across Africa being 7.12% of the average monthly income.
Kenya trails other countries in the region on internet accessibility, but the cost in the country remains affordable when compared with neighboring low-income nations.
However, the report highlights that Kenya lags behind low-income countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda on accessibility.
Kenya was graduated to a low-middle-income country in 2014 after rebasing its economy from the Least Developed Countries category.
Telecom operators have recently invested billions on the networks, especially fourth-generation (4G), in the quest to increase usage of data services.
The 4G technology gives users faster speeds and eliminates buffering when downloading video clips.
According to the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), the service revenue from the mobile subsector grew by 9.4% to record Sh270.5 billion in 2018.
Similarly, the investments grew from Sh41.5 billion reported in 2017 to Sh57.5 billion in 2018.
The share of data as a percentage of the total revenue collected in 2018 stood at 20%.
However, voice still commands the lead on income.
Safaricom has cut its data prices by 42% in response to increased competition in the telecommunications industry, in the year ended March, according to disclosures by Vodacom.
As at June 30 this year, the number of internet subscriptions stood at 49.9 million with 99.9% being on mobile data.
During the fourth quarter of the 2018/19 Financial Year, the number of broadband subscriptions stood at 22.2 million up from 21.9 million subscriptions reported during the third quarter.
Telecoms operators Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom Kenya were last week sued over the expiry of data and loss of unused internet bundles.
Lawyer and ICT practitioner Adrian Kamotho sued the firms and the industry regulator at the Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal.
He wants the three operators compelled to offer a service where subscribers can roll over unused data at no costs.
