Safaricom has halted their 5G rollout plans which was meant to begin early last year.
Safaricom is always updating their products and finding ways to make their client experience a lot better. Their 5G plans began last year in February came and passed and unfortunately they have now confirmed that they have cancelled their plans.
The launch was initially scheduled for December 2020 however according to Business Daily reports that Safaricom has decided to shelve plans to launch cancel the launch which was allegedly fuelled by pressure from the U.S who have been at loggerheads with Huawei, who is Safaricom’s network equipment supplier.
“We have tested it [5G] in this country. We will go through conversations around spectrum with the government in the background. But in terms of immediacy, we are not intending at this stage to go big on 5G in the near term. There is still so much headroom for us to exploit and fully utilise 4G before we go into 5G,” said Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO.
Do we really need a 5G plan?
If you feel as if your current internet speed is not fast enough and would prefer a smoother experience with the internet then 5G network is exactly what we would need for a better overall experience but however it seems we might not be ready.
The country hasn’t seen a single launch of 5G devices in the country, save for the iPhone 12 Pro models since the Samsung flagship devices sold in the country are the 4G variants. Safaricom’s decision to cut 5G plans has also been made due to their current focus on entering the Ethiopian market which has seen the telco seek a KES 55 Billion loan as it plans to expand its operations.
On mobile network plans, Safaricom says that it will continue to focus on 4G expansion, which it says constitutes 77% of its network coverage. Despite this impressive mark, 4G users in Kenya still remains low, a number Safaricom plans to change by adding at least four million new 4G users through their Lipa Mdogo Mdogo scheme.