Safaricom has launced Jiji Smart, an initiative aimed at real estate developers that will see the launch of smart and internet ready addresses in around Kenya. The new proposition will see the Telco invest in fiber and other internet infrastructure offerings with the real estate developers only required to pay for the internet bandwidth. Safaricom has already locked in a seven year contract with an upcoming development project called The Hub Karen. The Hub set to open in November 2015, is a 20-acre development consisting of a mall and other amenities.
With the project, tenants at The Hub Karen, will need not invest in their own cabling and other requisite ICT infrastructure, as Safaricom. Speaking during the launch of the product, Safaricom Business General Manager, Rita Okuthe said the new proposition is a big boon for business moving to new facilities. “Businesses would prefer to move into a smart building, thereby cutting down on capital expenditure and reducing the time needed before starting to do business,” she added.
The project will be spearheaded by Safaricom’s enterprise arm, Safaricom Business with the network hoping to leverage on their fiber and 4G capabilities to offer high speed internet connectivity to users living in specific address. The product comes at the back drop of Access Kenya ditching its retail market offering and instead focusing on the high margin enterprise market. Access Kenya offered a similar proposition for its consumers.
