Technology company Telkom is set to add 2,000 sites on its network. This follows a partnership deal that was signed by Telkom, networks and telecommunications company Ericsson, and systems integrator NEC XON. The deal saw the three firms sign a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the additional 2,000 sites added onto Telkom’s network by 2023.
The nationwide roll out is part of Telkom’s long-term network expansion strategy that was announced in August 2020 when Telkom underwent a strategic reorganization to address its digital transformation.
Telkom has been reviewing its long-term strategy as it moves into its next phase of transformation in line with its focus areas, driven by the ICT industry’s local and global transitions.
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The company identified its fibre infrastructure, mobile network, and its mobile financial services as areas for further investment and growth. According to chief executive officer Mugo Kibati, these investments will contribute to enhancing service provision and customer experience. Mr. Kibati further said that Telkom is currently upgrading and expanding its 4G capacity in the Coast region.
“Two of our commitments are to better position our infrastructure asset base and services to drive digital transformation within our various customer segments,” he said. “We believe that this will provide them with more value, as well as bridge the digital divide through the expansion of our mobile data network.”
The pointed out that Telkom’s new partnership with Ericsson and NEC XON will kick off a new network expansion project for Telkom.
“Data is a fundamental human right. It is now emerging as a daily necessity. The customer is also demanding more competitive and comprehensive products that address their different and ever-changing needs,” he said. These needs include browsing, downloading, streaming, mobile money transactions, reading the news online, and updating of apps. “The development of new products and solutions such as Madaraka Life, but more importantly, the provision of the network needed to access these services, is a priority for us at Telkom,” he said.
Mr. Kibati added that Telkom was cognisant of the integral role the technology company’s core terrestrial network plays in keeping customers connected. “We continue with our long-term terrestrial network expansion plan that is informed by our overall company strategy, which will see us scale up to 80 per cent of our network to 4G, increase our network footprint across the country, and get more Kenyans online. Our partnership with Ericsson and NEC XON is testament to this.”
On his part, the Vice President and Managing Director of Ericsson South and East Africa, Todd Ashton said that the collaboration will increase mobile coverage across the country, and provide a seamless data experience to Kenyans. “More people will have access to affordable internet that will enable business continuity for people and enterprises contributing to the economic growth in Kenya,” he said. “This is just the beginning, with the LTE expansion setting the foundation to deploy 5G in the future.”
The network expansion will also see Telkom connect more than 200 learning institutions as well as over 30 medical facilities to the internet, in a bid to boost the use of remote learning and e-health solutions.
“We are assisting Telkom to roll out a leading, robust 4G network with a future-proof foundation to enable their strategic vision to compete as one of the major East African service providers,” said NEC XON’s General Manager – Wireless, Willem Wentzel. “The rollout augments Telkom’s existing network infrastructure by delivering world-class quality of experience (QoE) to more customers across a much wider coverage area.”