Most people don’t like Kenya Power because they have monopolized the market and no other company has the opportunity to attract a wider power coverage. Now, Kenya Power is set to provide high speed internet across the country. The company will connect users to its fibre optic network. Ideally, the move will draw a huge competition between internet providers which is good for Kenyans.
Kenya Power established Kenya Power International Limited mandated to run telecommunications business i.e the company’s fibre optic footprint. Currently, the market is dominated by Jamii Telecoms, Wananchi and Safaricom. Kenya Power’s move will probably make it easy for consumers to enjoy fair charges and subscriptions.
“The new outfit will be responsible for development of fibre-to-the-home which is a major business direction,” said Kenya Power managing director Ben Chumo at the company’s annual general meeting. “We already have the necessary infrastructure and therefore giving this extra service to our customers will not require any major investment. We shall not put our lines underground where it is unsafe but along our power lines.”
Kenya Power is set to provide high speed internet across the country
The company has plans to expand the introduced venture across the country. Kenya Power has covered over 1700 kilometers of optical fibre along the company’s power lines. According to business daily, the company earned Sh259.4 million revenue in the year to June 2015 from leasing out extra capacity on its fibre optic network, income it now intends to grow to Sh1 billion by 2017.
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Service providers are currently making abnormal profits because tech companies come up with amazing smartphones and other electronics that get sold out everyday. The growing smartphone market places the communication sector in a good place when it comes to profit making. Three months ago, Safaricom released a report, the company generates a total of Kshs 315 Billion in revenue to Kenya’s GDP during financial year 2014/15, which accounted for a total of about 6% of GDP in total.
In fibre optic, Safaricom has connected around 6,047 homes to its underground fibre network. The company has a plan to connect close to 2000 people before the end of this year. The crowned player in fibre infrastructure is Jamii Telecom with 7,486 customers connected to its fibre infrastructure of more 4,000 kilometers across the country.
On the other side, Telkom Kenya has 4,500km of fibre optic network connected across the country. Access Kenya covers about 350 kilometers in Kenya.
Kenya Power will revamp its training center to a university. To achieve this, the company is planning to recruit directors and lecturers. With everything in place, Kenya Power is set to provide high speed internet across the country.
This is a good move. Hope we’re going to be the beneficiaries we consumers.