Internet provider Liquid Telecom Kenya is moving to offer fibre connections to homes and small businesses through its retail brand, Hai.
The firm announced the move yesterday after completing its new Nairobi Metro network, a 4200km cable network built as part of its Sh20.3bn Internet infrastructure investment programme in Kenya. Hai unlimited internet service will serve homes and SMEs and is already operating in Runda and other housing estates. The Hai packages have also been built with a variety of value-added services, including video-on-demand ipidi tv.
The firm will also be adding hundreds of WiFi hotspots and additional value-added services in 2016, to extend the speed and reliability of its network to more customers, and to enhance the business and home Internet experience for its existing customers.
“Our over-riding mission has always been to achieve a reach and quality of Internet that will fuel the growth of Kenya’s internet economy, creating jobs and incomes. This sees us turn to our next step, strategically, in focusing this year, on last mile connections and value added service packages for our customers,” said Liquid Telecom Kenya CEO Ben Roberts.
The company has also built new metro networks in Kisumu, Nakuru, Garissa, Mombasa, Kilifi and a mini metro in Eldoret, and will next year complete metro networks in Meru, Nyeri, Machakos, and Muranga, upgrade its fibre network in Kisii, and extend its Nakuru network to Naivasha. The firm also said it will be investing around $1m in adding hundreds more new WiFi hotspots in the country through 2016, in addition to its 200 existing free hotspots in Nairobi,Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Kariado, and Nyeri.
Liquid Telecom Kenya has also begun connecting fibre to 400 new communications towers in Kenya and has also launched CrashPlan, a service that automatically backs up all data all the time, ending the business traumas caused by data loss.
“We believe that the advances in technology in Kenya mean the country is now positioned to explore new tech frontiers, and our upgraded infrastructure now opens multiple opportunities for businesses and homes to experiment with innovative online products, such as video-on-demand,” he said.
