Airtel Kenya – the country’s second-largest telecoms operator after Safaricom – will launch its 5G network for consumers in the country by July. If all goes to plan, this will be another opportunity for Airtel to increase its subscriber base through high-speed internet connectivity.
CEO of Bharti Enterprises (parent company of Airtel Kenya), Sunil Mittal, revealed this during a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. According to Mittal, Airtel’s proposed rollout has reached the last lap. He envisions a release of the service early next month.
On Monday, Airtel launched its 5G network in Nigeria – one of the telco’s biggest markets in Africa. And just as its Nigeria’s 5G will go up against MTN, Airtel Kenya will compete with Safaricom which released its 5G broadband service last October. The company’s 5G release in Nigeria and Kenya is part of a roadmap that includes Tanzania and Zambia.
Earlier this year, we reported that Airtel Kenya said its 5G network would initially be available for high-income neighborhoods in Nairobi. That plan hasn’t changed. Its reason for this is that subscribers living in such areas already own the appropriate gadgets and purchasing power to guarantee the success of the rollout.
It’s worth mentioning Kenya’s second-largest telco is following an identical route as Safaricom. Last year when it released 5G broadband, only those living in both high-income and middle-income areas could access the service.
Despite the benefits of the 5G network like increased bandwidth and lower latency, consumers interested in joining the trend will need 5G-enabled phones. That category of smartphones is typically more expensive than the budget-friendly phones commonly used today. 5G-compatible phones typically cost between Sh25,000 and Sh150,000. This segment includes the Samsung Galaxy Fold, S series, and select phones from Huawei and Oppo.
Another worthy mention is the 5G data bundles which will likely be more expensive than their 4G counterparts. While Airtel hasn’t revealed its data bundles, Safaricom’s plans cost between Sh1,000 and Sh10,000 based on the preferred package. It’s unknown whether Airtel will set higher or lower rates for its data plans.
Other business moves by Airtel Kenya
To tackle connectivity issues in select Kenyan regions, Airtel intends to establish 349 network sites before 2023 ends. It already has a network of 3,200 sites. The telco also intends to add 300 sites to the mix to improve service delivery to consumers and heap pressure on Safaricom.
According to the Communication Authority’s recent data, Airtel has 17.5 million subscribers which pales in comparison to Safaricom’s 41.9 million users. Safaricom’s status as the leading telecom operating in Kenya can be traced to the launch of the M-Pesa mobile money service in 2007. Aside from enabling users to access basic banking services, they could do so using feature phones which, up till now, are affordable.
Earlier this month, Airtel Kenya announced that users of its Airtel Money service would pay electricity bills without any transaction charge for the next six months. This is another move to not only improve customer satisfaction but attract new users. According to last year’s data on mobile money subscriptions, M-Pesa has 96.8% while Airtel and T-Kash are left with 3.1% and 0.1% respectively.
