Seacom has confirmed it will expand its product portfolio and include SD-WAN & DDoS Protection as part of renewed commitment to bolster telecommunications services in Kenya.

This follows a meeting the company had recently with Ezra Chiloba, Director General of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

Several industry issues were discussed including internet bandwidth, the state of cloud computing, the national regulator’s role in the converged tech-economy, and opportunities within the field of education.

According to the CA’s First Quarter Sector Statistics Report for the Financial Year 2021/2022 (July-September 2021) “As at 30th September 2021, the number of active mobile subscriptions (SIM Cards) stood at 64.9 million, marking a percentage increase of 0.78% down from 3.9% increase recorded as at 30th June 2021. The slow uptake of subscriptions is as a result of decommissioning of the USSD customer acquisition channel and absolute adoption of the App channel for SIM registration in line with the Authority’s SIM registration guidelines. Further, Machine-to-Machine (M2M)1 subscriptions increased by 8.7% to stand at 988,184.”

Moreover, the number of mobile phone devices accessing mobile networks stood at 59.0 million, out of which 33.0 million were feature phones and 26.0 million smartphones. The penetration4 levels of feature phones and smartphones stood at 67.9% and 53.4% respectively.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged more consumers to adopt mobile money in purchasing essential goods and services. Consequently, there has been a general uptick in merchant payments and deposits, and the period under review was no exception. However, the value of Government to Citizens (s) transfers dropped by 29.4% due to reduction in COVID-19 fund disbursements by the Government.”

As to the meeting with the CA, Seacom Managing Director, Tejpal Bedi said: “This was a chance to share notes and exchange ideas, to understand our relationship with the regulatory body and to establish Seacom as a leading force in the provision of Internet services. We are excited about the potential for collaboration to help usher in the next stage of Kenya’s digital transformation.”

The company believes the main challenge with the provision of internet services is the high cost of the last-mile – especially in the delivery of fixed connections to remote locations.

While it is noted that the spread of mobile Internet services has been a great enabler for the digital inclusion of the population, the provision of high-speed fixed data especially through optic-fibre is still too costly outside urban areas, the company stated.

Enabling environment

Seacom asserts that the main role of the ICT regulator is “to create an enabling environment for the expansion of ICT to all areas of Kenya. This can be done through implementing policies that encourage the investment in infrastructure especially in unserved areas. Policies relating to infrastructure sharing will go a long way in achieving this.”

In information supplied, Seacom said Chiloba, a former CEO of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissions (IEBC), was appointed as the CA’s Director General in September 2021, bringing with him a fresh and dynamic approach to the role.

The company believes it- together with the regulator – can address local telco requirements.

It stated, “While the cost of Internet to consumers has dropped significantly since the year 2009 when high-speed submarine cables like Seacom landed in Kenya, this is only one component of delivering connectivity to the population. The expansion of our national backbone infrastructure as well access to mobile Internet has also helped reduce the costs of Internet especially in key urban centres. However, more investment in fixed last-mile infrastructure especially in underserved areas will go a long way in further reducing the cost of high-speed Internet. With the advent of more local datacentres in East Africa, there is more local traffic for services, this will continue to drive costs down and reduce pricing. The Kenya Internet Exchange Point has seen significant increase in traffic over the last few years.”

Bedi added, “Kenya’s ICT and telecommunications sector remains vibrant with various players providing the entire spectrum of ICT services. The competitive environment continues to drive more investment in infrastructure as well as innovative products that facilitate the new way of working. Some of these innovations are geared towards driving the delivery of ICT services via mobile, online & cloud platforms. This trajectory of innovation is expected to continue growth in mid-to-long term in line with the changing consumer needs.”