Safaricom has come to out to clear the air as pertaining to the implementation cost for the public safety security project awarded to the firm by the government.
In a statement, the telecom sa
Essentially, the project is geared at improving communication between various State agencies that oversee and provide security to Kenya and to this end, Safaricom’s role is to design, construct and support a robust communications network, managed centrally by the National Police Service.
“The estimated total cost of deploying the full solution to all 47 counties (including Nairobi & Mombasa) is KES 21.5Billion. This amount which is inclusive of annual maintenance costs and remains an estimate owing to the fact that it is NOT part of the tendered scope of works. This estimate and related works costs are subject to change, depending on specific requirements of the National Police Service,” read part of the statement.
“It is imperative to note that the costs of the first phase (Nairobi and Mombasa) currently quoted for at Kshs 14.9 Billion, are inclusive of the most capital intensive components of the system (i.e. core network and operation centres). This means that the cost of scaling up to other counties will be less capital intensive as it will require much smaller incremental costs because there will be no replication of core network infrastructure,” read another part.
Safaricom also says denied that the proposed contract with the National Police Service is for 10 years as had been reported by some media outlets saying that it was for a duration of 5 years instead.
The company has however provided a system support guarantee including spare parts availability for a period of 10 years, whether or not our contract is extended upon its expiry.
The initial cost of the project for Nairobi and Mombasa, the quoted amount of KES 14.9Billion includes the maintenance costs.
Safaricom reiterated that its scope of in the tender includes the design and construction of the network but once the network is up and running, the management of the system will be handed over to the National Police Service.