Safaricom will soon launch Kenya’s first 5G mobile internet service that will be available in major urban centres.
What is the 5G network? According to Wikipedia 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectivity to most current cellphones.
The telcos company has had plans of launching the 5G technology for some time now but it was never confirmed. The new move will mean that faster internet will be expected and from a business perspective its a good move since their data business has had fast growth while their voice calls revenue has been suffering.
Who else is doing it?
Other countries in Western countries like USA have already launched the 5G network and the same has been happening in other continents too. Safaricom was also the first to launch the 4G network back in 2014 while their competitors joined the space a few years ago.
When will they launch?
The leading telco Thursday revealed that it will take place on the 25th of March and will be in partnership with Nokia Corporation and Huawei who are currently under scrutiny over the introduction of the high speed networks.
Where?
The service will be available in Nairobi and greater western Kenya including Kisumu, Kisii and Bungoma, which routinely witness increased data traffic.
Who can get it?
Safaricom customers will be able to get it.
Which phones will be able to get it?
So far, only a handful of phones officially available in Kenya are equipped with a 5G chip.The latest ones are from Samsung and Apple: Samsung S21 series with the Exynos 2100 supports 5G. This time around, Samsung has not deactivated the feature as it did with the S20 lineup from 2020 (that we hope will be updated to support the service).
