On Friday, 28th October, 2016, Safaricom limited announced that it was expanding its 4G coverage to five more towns in Kenya. It was only last year that Safaricom rolled out 4G connectivity to Nairobi and Mombasa cities with a promise of covering more towns soon. Towns surrounding these two cities got also to enjoy LTE (Long Term Evolution) connectivity. Well less than a year later and now Safaricom is expanding its coverage.
Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisii and Meru are the latest towns that Safaricom is rolling out its 4G/LTE internet connectivity to. The surrounding areas will also benefit from full 4G coverage. This move will raise the number of counties with 4G high-speed connectivity to 30.
That’s not all. Safaricom is focused on setting up at least 500 more 4G base stations by the end of the year. That is a deadline of two months, ladies and gentlemen.
What you need to access 4G/LTE
Unfortunately you will not be able to access this new connectivity will your current hardware. The following are the two main requirements:
- Upgrade to a 4G sim-card
You will need a 4G enabled sim-card from Safaricom to be able to access 4G internet speeds. Safaricom claims that the current sim-cards do not support the fast internet speeds. Upgrading to a 4G capable sim-card is free though there are also reports that Safaricom charges Ksh.50.
- Upgrade to a 4G enabled smartphone
You will need to use a 4G capable smartphone to gain access to the fast internet speeds. This was probably one of the reasons Tecno Mobile decided to launch the Tecno Phantom 6 and Phantom 6 Plus in partnership with Safaricom rather than online retail store Jumia as was the norm. Both phones are 4G capable.
When you have the above key requirements you can jump into any 4G zone and experience the new internet speeds. Note that Safaricom is the only Telco Company in Kenya that has 4G coverage.
