Only a handful of Kenyan internet service providers can pride themselves in offering a mostly robust and consistent connection. This sharp contrast among leading ISPs and upcoming companies that want to take a bite at Kenya’s growing internet penetration cases is obvious as different users report varying experiences.
For the last couple of weeks, poa! internet, which serves low-income neighbourhoods such as Kawangware, Kibera and some parts of Kiambu has not been at the top of its game. The low-cost internet provider has acknowledged the issue, unlike its rivals who often downplay poor services. The acknowledgment went live today, a development that was marked by a notification sent to Kawangware customers that it will make things up to them by beaming unlimited and free internet for seven days.
In other countries, users who are inconvenienced by poor internet connection are often refunded of fees spent on a wonky internet plan. In Kenya, however, there is no legal framework that tasks ISPs to do the same thing (a shame), although affected ISPs can strike a deal with their customers to let them know they are catered for, and their loyalty is key to their business. Thus, the one-week unlimited and free internet appears to counter the interruptions, which poa! says have been addressed.
According to poa!, downtimes were linked to a noticeably high number of users, which the ISP tried to fix by procuring the services of a new supplier. The changeover process resulted in the experienced service issues.
Lastly, users will enjoy unlimited services at full speeds (4 mbps), which, fortunately, will not be capped at all. However, the average consumption per user is 35 GB per user, so it is important that subscribers take note of that. Nonetheless, this is still a good gesture to customers in the affected areas.
