Topic: Kenya ready to roll out $ 500 million high-speed 4G network by 2013

NAIROBI: Kenya aims to roll out a
high-speed fourth-generation (4G)
mobile data services network by
2013, at an estimated cost of $500
million, to meet growing demand
for wireless access to the internet
in East Africa's largest economy.
Bitange Ndemo, permanent
secretary at the ministry of
information and communication,
told Reuters that all Kenyan mobile
phone firms had signed up to the
new project and it was now
awaiting approval from the ministry
of finance.
"We need to have it (the network)
before the next elections (due in
March 2013). That is what we are
targeting," he said late Thursday on
the sidelines of a US-Kenya
conference on infrastructure
projects.
So-called 4G LTE (long term
evolution) networks promise
download speeds more than five
times those of 3G and are designed
for data, rather than voice, as well
as supporting high-definition video
conferencing.
Data is seen as a major growth area
in the telecoms sector, prompting
firms to invest heavily to offset the
impact of falling voice revenues on
the back of a price war.
At present, Safaricom, 40 percent
owned by Britain's Vodafone, is the
only network in Kenya to have fully
rolled out a 3G network across the
country and is already testing the
LTE technology at five sites.
Other firms with 3G licenses are
Telkom Kenya, controlled by France
Telecom's Orange, and the Kenyan
unit of India's Bharti Airtel. Both
Orange and Airtel are in the
process of rolling out 3G networks
countrywide.
The first phase would involve
rolling out the 4G network to the
country's 47 counties at a cost of $
100 million, a figure that would rise
further in the next phase that
would see the new service
connected to the entire country's
network.
"We have finished with the study.
We have sent it to the Ministry of
Finance. We are just waiting for the
approval and then we hit the road,"
Ndemo said.
"Phase one... we will go to the
counties, and leveraging on the
existing base stations, but by the
time we cover everywhere it would
be even up to $500 million," he
said.
Mobile carriers worldwide are
increasingly upgrading to LTE
networks that support high-speed
wireless services as consumers
use tablet computers and
smartphones to surf the web.
In September, the ministry said
potential investors should have at
least a 20 percent Kenyan
shareholding and the financial and
technical capability to roll out
commercial services to the
country's 47 counties within a year
of forming a partnership with the
government.
Mobile phone users in the country
of 40 million people grew by 12.5
percent to 28.1 million in the last
quarter of 2011.
Internet users nearly doubled to
17.4 million in the period, thanks
to an increase in mobile phone
subscriptions, the industry
regulator said.
Safaricom said it was looking to
increase performance of its data
segment through increased
investments in fiber during the
release of its 2011 results last
week.
Ndemo said once the 4G project
got a green light, it would take six
to seven months to be rolled-out
countywide. The government's plan
is to give the 4G spectrum to
operators, and for the companies
to fund network deployment.
The second phase of the project
would involve connecting all the
country's mobile phone base
stations to fiber optic cable. In
addition to the mobile operators,
data network operators and
equipment suppliers would take
part in the project.
"It's an open access model. We
can't set it (the special purpose
vehicle for delivering the project)
up until we get the approval from
Treasury. They can take one month,
or two months. But it's going to be
very soon," Ndemo said.
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Bado kidogo tu Tanzania kuongoza kwa ukubwa wa Uchumi GDP East Afrika na ndio uoga wa Kenya

By Pharaoh

Bado kidogo tu Tanzania kuongoza kwa ukubwa wa Uchumi GDP East Afrika na ndio uoga wa Kenya

thanx for commenting but this is petty....way petty esp from a neighbours. The last i checked Tanzania didnt pose a security threat to Kenya. Not in any scale atleast other than unity.

I didnt mean threat brother, but i've been following up for about 10 yrs now, the gap is really smaller now, Tanzania will loose government but it overtake the Kenyan economy ant time if not ready

I didnt mean threat brother, but i've been following up for about 10 yrs now, the gap is really smaller now, Tanzania with its loose government but it overtake the Kenyan economy ant time if not ready

By Pharaoh

I didnt mean threat brother, but i've been following up for about 10 yrs now, the gap is really smaller now, Tanzania with its loose government but it overtake the Kenyan economy ant time if not ready

lets say we will cross dat bridge when the time comes:-) .....anyway we are neighbourly states and as such Tanzania needs Kenya as much as Kenya needs her. IT is set to develop Kenyas economy or say contribute to 25% of Kenyas GDP, those crying about food, cash will be found there i.e. assuming the wells turn out dry. *the Brits have a spell of finding this stuff everywhere though*

By Pharaoh

I didnt mean threat brother, but i've been following up for about 10 yrs now, the gap is really smaller now, Tanzania will loose government but it overtake the Kenyan economy ant time if not ready

There are factors that govern such perception. However Tanzanian economic growth quantam is higher than kenya but size wise is well below. It may pass Kenya's in future, hopefully.

you are all wrong tanzania dream of ever overtaking kenya went up in smoke the very day oil was discovered in kenya

By Rufiji

What you have narrated clearly illustrates lack of critical thinking. Indeed, if one would analyze Maslow's hierarchy of needs on a nut-shell will reach to same conclusion as yours - it applies only to individuals but not to country. The question that we ought to ask ourselves is it possible to define a country without talking about individuals (people) residing in that country.

It doesn't make sense for a poor country like Kenya to spend millions of dollars for High Speed Internet while millions of her citizens are living under abject poverty. Frankly speaking, Kenyans are so obsessed with mimicking the West and they have forgotten that many citizens are struggling to make ends meet (they are stuck on physiological needs level). On the other hand, Western countries are self actualization level that is the reason they can afford fast internet.

Usishangae hiyo ndo mindset ya kibepari, it is a good thing though hasa kama kungekuwa hakuna njaa