Affordability key to 5G uptake in East Africa – Safaricom

Affordability of both 5G devices and services are at the heart of growing 5G uptake across East Africa.

That's according to Cynthia Karuri-Kropac, chief enterprise business officer at Safaricom, who was speaking at East Africa Com in Nairobi, Kenya.

"Until 5G can become affordable and accessible, it has a way to go to driving any true transformation in the country. That should be the first priority on how we can drive accessibility of high-speed Internet to underserved areas," she said.

"But it's not just about underserved areas or rural areas, also in the urban areas that are really densely built it takes a long time and it's going to be expensive to roll out fiber. So 5G will really play a key role in driving accessibly to the Internet," she added.

She said that only about 44% of Kenyans have access to the Internet, while less than a quarter, or around 20%, can access the Internet in rural areas. That equals a long way to go to tackle the digital divide.

When asked about role of fixed wireless access on 5G she said, "not only do I think it's viable, I think it's vital to rolling out connectivity."

Growing 5G usage in Kenya

Safaricom became the first Kenyan operator to launch 5G in October 2022, but out of its 43 million customers only about 400,000 are currently accessing 5G.

"Part of the reason for the slow uptake of 5G is affordability. If we look at our user base, less than 1% are using 5G devices. So the catalyst for driving mass expansion of 5G is going to be [affordability]," she said.

Earlier this week the operator extended its reach, expanding 5G rollout to another 28 cities in 21 Kenyan counties.

She also pointed out that telecommunications remains a capital-intensive business and therefore operators like Safaricom need to look at new ways to drive 5G growth more cost effectively.

Cynthia Karuri-Kropac, chief enterprise business officer at Safaricom. (Source: Safaricom)

"4G is at about 97% penetration in the market. But we have 35% to 45% of people who are still on 2G and 3G devices. So we first of all have to migrate those that are still on feature phones onto a smartphone, and then think about what their needs are that would necessitate more 5G rollout," Karuri-Kropac said.

"Once we are connected, it then becomes the catalyst to drive digital skills development because then it becomes about how are we using 5G to tackle the key issues that this country and others in Africa have to grapple with that perhaps the west does not," she concluded.

*Top image source: starline on Freepik.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa