The international bandwidth available in Kenya has more than doubled to grow by a record 117.9 per cent between January and March 2015
According to the quarterly sector statistics released by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the improvement in infrastructure has led to the increase of international bandwidth to 1.6 gbps, up from 0.7 gbps recorded during the previous quarter.
The report also noted the increase in the number of Internet users from 26.1mn in the previous quarter to 29.1mn in the January-March quarter, bringing total Internet penetration in Kenya to 71.7 per cent.
“This growth was mainly contributed by The East African Marine System (TEAMS) that lit additional capacity to meet growing demand of bandwidth. Used capacity also increased by 57.3 per cent to reach 783,761 mbps up from 498,121 mbps recorded during the last quarter. The used capacity represented 47.0 per cent of the total available bandwidth in the country,” the report stated.
TEAMS is a 5,000 km undersea cable, a joint venture in which the Kenyan government and local operators hold 85 per cent share while Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat holds the remaining 15 per cent share.
According to other data from the CA report, Kenya’s mobile phone penetration is currently 85.5 per cent, with a total of 38.4mn mobile subscribers.
