For the first time in nPerf’s barometer history for Kenya, Safaricom has taken the top spot across every major mobile internet performance indicator.
The French internet measurement platform nPerf, which collects crowdsourced speed test data from real users, tracked mobile performance across Kenya from April 2025 to March 2026.
Two operators qualified for the report: Safaricom, which accounted for 68% of all tests, and Airtel at 32%.
Safaricom finished with an overall nPerf score of 48,015 points against Airtel’s 30,156, a gap of nearly 18,000 points. On 4G specifically, Safaricom scored 45,706 to Airtel’s 31,681.
The Numbers in Plain Terms
Safaricom’s average download speed came in at 30.55 Mb/s, more than double Airtel’s 13.20 Mb/s. Upload speeds told a similar story: 9.67 Mb/s for Safaricom versus 4.74 Mb/s for Airtel.
On latency, which is the delay before data starts moving, where lower is better, Safaricom recorded 49.62 ms compared to Airtel’s 83.06 ms.
For everyday use cases, Safaricom users had a 40.76% web browsing success rate versus Airtel’s 34.19%, and YouTube streamed successfully 67.17% of the time on Safaricom compared to 60.68% on Airtel.
On 4G alone, 53% of Safaricom’s download tests were rated “excellent” (above 25 Mb/s), while only 28% of Airtel’s tests hit that threshold, with 45% of Airtel tests falling in the “low” category below 10 Mb/s.
The difference is also felt during peak evening hours (6-11 PM). Safaricom’s busy-hour download speed dropped to 26.59 Mb/s, still nearly three times Airtel’s busy-hour figure of 10.11 Mb/s.
Where Airtel Improved
Airtel’s results aren’t all bad news. Its upload speed grew 17% year-on-year, rising from 4.06 Mb/s to 4.74 Mb/s. Latency also improved meaningfully, dropping from 97.61 ms to 83.06 ms, a sign the network is becoming more responsive.
On 4G, upload speed reached 5.15 Mb/s.
Where Airtel went backward, however, is on download speed. Its overall download average fell from 14.52 Mb/s to 13.20 Mb/s, and its 4G download dropped from 14.64 Mb/s to 13.73 Mb/s. Small declines, but in the wrong direction, while Safaricom pulled further ahead.
What Changed From Last Year?
One important note on context: in the previous nPerf reporting cycle, Airtel was the only operator benchmarked in Kenya, meaning it held every ranking by default. This year, with Safaricom included, Airtel is being measured against a direct competitor for the first time.
Safaricom’s sweep across every category, from speeds to streaming to latency to browsing, suggests its infrastructure investments have translated into a real, measurable advantage for its subscribers.
Whether Airtel can reverse the download speed regression while sustaining gains in upload and latency will be the story to watch in the next cycle.
