Safaricom Once Again Ousts Zuku and JTL as Leading Fixed Internet Providers

Data and broadband services are interesting services, particularly over this period when some people are working from, and some educational institutions have adopted online learning platforms.

Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) over the fourth quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year (March to June) has revealed that the total number of active internet subscriptions grew to 46.7 million from 43.7 million that was recorded in the preceding quarter.

This was a 12.8% jump compared to the 40.9 million subscriptions that were recorded for the fourth quarter of the preceding financial year.  

To note, mobile subscriptions constitute more than 99% of the total data subscriptions – basically meaning that most people are accessing the internet through their handheld devices and powered by internet services offered by mobile carriers.

In terms of market share, Safaricom leads the pack with 68.0%, a slight drop from 68.2% recorded in the previous quarter.

Airtel Kenya is second at 26.6%, followed by Telkom, Equitel, and JTL at 4.6%, 04%, and 0.4%, respectively.

In terms of fixed data subscriptions, fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) is the most popular product with more than 439K subscriptions. It is followed by a cable modem, and fixed wireless connections with 178K and 114K subscriptions, respectively.

The highest number of fixed internet subscriptions lie between 2 Mbps and 10 Mbps.

Safaricom PLC with its fibre product is the leading fixed data company for yet another quarter after going past Wananchi Group.

Here is the breakdown of their market share:

Lastly, the quarter also saw a jump in the number of broadband subscriptions, which rose by 6.7% to stand at 27.5 million from 25.8 million in the previous quarter.

Mobile broadband accounted for 97.4% of the overall broadband subscriptions.