Safaricom launched 4G way back in 2014 as a limited release and I was elated due to the promise of faster download and upload speeds compared to 3G.
That was 2.5 years ago and we have seen progress of roll-out of 4G into more neighborhoods and towns. We have also seen Safaricom market cheap 4G phones and also announce data bundles for 4G users. So, currently in a city like Nairobi, 4G has become the norm rather than the exception.
However, this year we have seen Safaricom do some tests in a bid to provide even faster 4G speeds.
My friend, Chenze noticed a change way back in March and shared this screenshot on Twitter.
4.5G is finally home. First time detecting it here (Westlands). pic.twitter.com/dsyMoAEpK7
— Alternative name (@echenze) March 29, 2017
I also noticed that my LTE speeds were faster than normal in April.
Wow my LTE speeds are fast today pic.twitter.com/Z51pFj65Az
— K I R U T I 🏆 (@kiruti) April 28, 2017
Well, it is now official. Safaricom has confirmed that they have rolled out 4G+ in major towns.
“These faster speeds not only benefit the customer, they also empower small businesses who can now use the internet for more commercial activities – democratizing data access,” Bob Collymore, Safaricom’s CEO was quoted as saying.
According to Safaricom, the previous implementation of the 4G network had a theoretical limit of between 60-100Mbps. Now 4G+ has a limit of 150Mbps, which is between 50-150% faster than before.
According to the company, the 4G+ stations will complement the existing 4,677 2G sites, 3517 3G sites and 1,103 4G sites on the company’s network.
Naturally, to enjoy the faster speeds, you have to consult online manuals to know how fast the 4G modem is on your phone. Faster is always better when it comes to surfing the Internet and this is most certainly welcome.
This is awesome, but to the lay person those fast speeds may not be seen as an added advantage. Truth be told Safaricom internet is the most expensive mobile data in the market and with the competition quickly catching up by improving their networks too speed isn’t going to be a factor for long
That is so true. You can imagine having a Bugatti with only a liter of petrol. How far will you go? Cost of data is still so high and it is of no benefit to the user to have high speeds and limit the users.
Does this mean we will have to replace our 4G sim cards with ones that are 4G+ compatible?
[…] across key towns in the country from last year. They also added the rollout of the faster 4G+ which was announced 5 months ago which theoretically allows one to enjoy speeds in excess of […]