NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 14 – Safaricom says it has spent Sh36.1 billion in the 2020 financial year to modernize its equipment in its quest to meet the surge in demand for voice and data, triggered by the lockdown.
Speaking during the launch of its Sustainable Business report, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the company has expanded its reach in the country through 2,284 additional base transceiver stations and added 2,300 kilometers of fibre optic cable.
Ndegwa also announced that the company has rolled out sites including 4G enabled sites, with plans of concluding its trials of 5G-enabled sites during the current financial year.
The CEO also revealed that the firm has made good progress in terms of residential homes, passing additional 42,105 houses and connecting 34,238 homes to the network.
As a result, Safaricom has connected over 142,000 homes and 11,911 businesses to its fibre optic network to date.
“Our plan is to continue our aggressive rollout of fibre connectivity to support remote working, learning and general connectivity; because our economy depends on it,” the CEO said.
The latest data by the Communications Authority of Kenya reveals that Safaricom maintains the lead in mobile data subscriptions at 68.7 percent, as well as that of fixed data subscriptions at 33.5 percent.
In 2Q20, Safaricom maintained the lead market share at 68.7 percent, with a 4.9 percent quarter on quarter increase in mobile subscriptions on its network.
During the period under review, the telco also displaced Wananchi Telecom on fixed data subscriptions, growing by 11.6 percent, boosted by the directive to work and study remotely.
Wananchi has held the lead on fixed data over the decade, except for 3Q19 when Safaricom dethroned it.
