Payments firm Jambo Pay has received a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) license that will see the firm participate in the telco space, says the company’s CEO Danson Muchemi.
Jambo Pay, which is owned by Webtribe Limited, is the same company that was hired to build a digital payments system for Nairobi County. Its services lapsed following the end of the company’s contract in early 2019.
The MVNO license was issued by ICT regulator the CA, effectively allowing the firm to lease signals from telcos to run mobile services. The MVNO license is the same kind that Equity Bank’s Equitel has.
According to Business Daily, Jambo Pay will start testing the service soon.
Commercial rollout is expected before the end of 2021.
Unlike Equitel that uses its platform to offer mobile and mobile money services, Jambo Pay will take advantage of the license to take advantage of smart communications that will allow customers to monitor services such as water and power bills, track their fleet, among other applications related to IoT.
Jambo Pay CEO says that the company will invest KES 300 million in the venture, which will always target other payment systems in the energy and transport sector.
He adds that its IoT network will be availed to developers and innovators for broad support.
Other carriers such as Safaricom have been actively pursuing the IoT space. Safaricom case, for instance, uses its near 100% 4G coverage in the country.
Whether the company will offer mobile services is something we will have to wait and see.
