Jamii Telecommunications Limited (JTL) has just announced the newest mobile network operator (MNO) in Kenya, Faiba 4G. The journey started earlier this year when JTL was awarded license to use the 700MHz spectrum to test their 4G network.
Faiba 4G joins the competitive MNO space in Kenya where we have seen brands come and go. With the hope of beating the competition, JTL’s Faiba 4G is taking the approach of offering only 4G services which includes mobile data, SMS and VoLTE.
At launch, JTL announced that it would be offering Free on-net calls for life, with the condition that one has a valid data bundle. Speaking of data bundles, the pricing is quite interesting:
Prepaid tariff
| SMS bundle | Rate |
|---|---|
| On net SMS | 1/SMS |
| Off net SMS | 1/SMS |
| On net calls (Voice & Video) | 2/MIN |
| Off-net calls | 2/MIN |
| Data tariff | 3/MB |
Data Bundles
| Bundle size | Bundle price (Kshs) | Bundle validity (days) |
|---|---|---|
| 1GB | 50 | 1 |
| 8GB | 300 | 7 |
| 15GB | 500 | 7 |
| 25GB | 1000 | 30 |
| 40GB | 2000 | 30 |
| 70GB | 3000 | 30 |
| 120GB | 4000 | 30 |
| 210GB | 6000 | 30 |
Mobile Plans
| Offer name | Data/Day | Minutes | SMS | Price | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kifaru | 1GB | 250 | 200 | 1500 | 30 days |
| Ndovu | 2GB | 350 | 500 | 2500 | 30 days |
| Simba | 3GB | 700 | 700 | 4000 | 30 days |
Fisi Hour
| Items | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Data | Unlimited |
| Validity | 60 minutes |
| Price | Kshs 150 |
Faiba 4G will be available in the following areas: Nairobi, Mombasa,Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu and Thika.
At launch, Faiba 4G boasts of 300 base stations with a target of achieving 1000 base stations in three years. JTL says that Faiba 4G customers can achieve up to 72Mbps speeds.
The SIM cards are available at PhoneXpress but you can get a free SIM card when you buy a data plan. You can also get Faiba’s Mi-Fi for Kshs 5,000.
This has been a long time coming for JTL as they have been testing their 4G network since late last year. “The entry into 4G space is customer driven. 4G is one of the main access methods that customers use to access broadband,” John Kama, MD, JTL said to us when they disclosed their intention to enter the 4G space to us few months ago.
