Commercial 5G Network in Kenya: Safaricom is set to commercialize its 5G network which has been in trial since launch in March 2021. According to chief executive officer Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom will increase its sites for the high speed network to 200 by the end of December 2021.
“This year is a trial phase and we intend to have 150 to 200 sites coming from the first use case of homes, especially in places where we do not have fibre,” said Ndegwa. “We will be able to test on such areas and help customers in terms of speed and reliability and from next year we can be able to commercialize a bit faster but I will come with that at the appropriate time.”
In March 2021, Safaricom officially activated Kenya’s first 5G internet. The high speed internet is now available in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii, and Kakamega. “Our goal is to establish universal coverage, such that anywhere in the country, it will be possible to enjoy the excellent experience of faster internet speeds with little latency to facilitate a digital lifestyle,” said Ndegwa.
According to Qualcomm, 5G is designed to deliver peak data rates up to 20 Gbps based on IMT-2020 requirements. Qualcomm Technologies’ flagship 5G solutions, the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X65 is designed to achieve up to 10 Gbps in downlink peak data rates. But 5G is about more than just how fast it is. In addition to higher peak data rates, 5G is designed to provide much more network capacity by expanding into new spectrum, such as mmWave.
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5G can also deliver much lower latency for a more immediate response and can provide an overall more uniform user experience so that the data rates stay consistently high—even when users are moving around.
Although the telco giant is set to launch its 5G for commercial use, it has also been expanding its 4G network. At the end of March 2021, Safaricom had 5,526 2G base stations and 5,500 for 3G. Its 4G base stations grew 24.1 percent to 5,387.