Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telco, has increased the internet for home and business customers in response to the growing demands of customers.
In a statement published on its website, Safaricom stated that the revamped home and business fibre plans will benefit the customers in terms of increased internet speeds and greater value. the
For Home fibre, Safaricom rolled out a new ultra-fast Platinum plan with internet speeds of 1000Mbs (Gigabit per second). The Platinum plan comes at a monthly price tag of KShs 20,000. The new plans make Safaricome the first network provider to offer Giga speeds for home internet users.
Customers will enjoy internet speeds of 15Mbps for the Bronze, 30Mbps for the Silver plan, 80Mbps for the Gold plan, and 500Mbps for the Diamond plan, down from 10Mbps, 20Mbps, 40Mbps, and 100Mbps, respectively.
According to Safaricom, “current customers will automatically be upgraded to the enhanced packages to enjoy the faster speeds.”
In addition to increasing internet speeds, Safaricom launched the Family Share plan, a plan that combines SMS, data, home internet, and mobile. The Family share plan can be used by up to five people within a household.
“We have enhanced our Home Internet speeds to cater to the increased demand and usage by offering reliable connectivity and enhanced value for our customers. The introduction of the new speeds offers the capability of handling the most demanding online activities with ease, including high-definition streaming 4K/8K, gaming, large file transfers, cloud computing, and virtual reality. We have also introduced family share, which offers a converged internet and mobile solution for home that can be shared with up to five loved ones,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.
Under the new plan, the Enterprise customers will enjoy new speeds of up to 1 Gbps. The upscaled internet speeds give large and medium enterprises the uptime, reliability, and flexibility to meet their needs. The plans include additional features such as network visibility, backup options, burstability, network visibility, proactive monitoring, embedded security, and static IP support.
Mr. Ndegwa noted that “The needs of our Enterprise customers are changing each day with the growing need to use technology. The enhanced fibre for business plans will allow our enterprise customers have a worry-free experience with the provision of back up data.”
These changes are among the plans the company intends to introduce over the next 13 months with the aim of driving deeper engagement with partners and customers.
The uptake of home and business internet continues to rise. Currently, over 370,000 homes and 32,000 businesses are connected to the internet through the telco company. Safaricom’s current total Fibre coverage across Kenya is more than 17,000 kilometers.
The development comes as Safaricom faces competition in the data market from Elon Musk’s Starlink. In August 2024, Safaricom urged the Communications Authority of Kenya to block foreign satellite internet providers (ISPS), including Starlink.
Related: Safaricom want Elon Musk’s Starlink blocked in Kenya, here’s why
