Telkom Kenya has a long history. Before the widespread adoption of cellular phones, you could only make a phone call with landline phone, and those services were only offered by Telkom Kenya. Together with Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), which regulates the communications sector, and Postal Corporation of Kenya that manages postal services, Telkom Kenya was part of Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) before it was split in 1999.
Over the years, the telecommunications company has undergone major changes, including the purchase of 70% of its stake by Helios Investment Partners in 2015, the plan to shed Orange branding as well as the announcement of a management team for its 4 divisions (Mobile Division, Fixed/Enterprise Division, Wholesale Division and Real Estate Division).
The Enterprise Division, which is headed by Kris Senanu, formerly of Access Kenya as Deputy CEO, has been losing sleep over business connectivity solutions such as BVPN, JamboNet and E@synet. We will focus on E@synet, having discussed BVPN and Jambonet in days gone past.
Basically, E@synet is an enterprise solution for SMEs that need a fixed unlimited connectivity package (‘fixed’ means that the package is permanent and is not subject to change regardless of the circumstances). Pricing starts at KES 3499 for the Super Lite (2 Mbps) option, which is an indicator of affordability for those who are interested in high-speed internet at a pocket-friendly price.
For 15 Mbps, dubbed E@synet Pro, you will need to shell KES 13,920 every month. The Lite (5 Mbps) and Standard (10 Mbps) packages are sandwiched between the aforementioned plans and retail at KES 5800 and KES 9280 per month, respectively.
What’s more, the E@synet is availed to consumers via copper, radio and fiber, which is an exemplary feat because other connectivity providers rely on wireless and fiber. This backs up Telkom Enterprise’s claim that that their connectivity services are available nationwide, and could benefit SMEs that have no access to newer and faster options such as fiber.
Telkom Enterprise is on a roll here with this kind of pricing and availability. If you look at what competitors are charging users for fixed unlimited packages and make a comparison to Telkom’s, you can tell that E@synet has better return on investment. We cannot tell if this is a deliberate move to attract more clients to sign up; what we can tell is that the solution needs to offer competitive pricing (which it does) if it needs to survive in the crowded connectivity market.
Additionally, Telkom Enterprise has promised reliability on its end, as well as high download speeds of up to 12 Mbps for high users. The solution just needs to keep its word on reliability and robustness to convince users that it means business.
Lastly, requirements for successful application can be found here.
