The number of active mobile (SIM) subscriptions in Kenya increased to 68 million as at the end of March, representing a penetration rate of 132.1%.

This is according to the latest sector statistics released by the country’s telecoms regulator the Communications Authority (CA).

The figure is up from 66.7 million subscriptions at the end of December 2023, representing an increase of 1.95% over the three month period.

Kenya’s leading telco Safaricom tops the subscription list with 44 666 368 subscribers, followed by Airtel with 19 858 255, Finserve (Equitel) with 1 497 283, Telkom Kenya with 1 478 668 and Jamii Telkom with 545 819 subscribers.

The regulator says this growth is attributed to customer win-back campaigns run during the period.

The CA also notes that mobile money subscriptions have grown to 38.7 million, translating to a penetration rate of 75%.

The growth in mobile money is attributed to the removal of withdrawal codes for transactions sent from M-Pesa to Airtel Money, which means that funds can now be transferred directly into an Airtel Money account (wallet).

The total mobile data subscriptions also stood at 51.3 million, of which 72.6% were on mobile broadband.

5G mobile subscriptions rose from 509 737 to 653 716, while 4G mobile subscriptions now sit at 27.6 million, 3G and 2G are 9 million and 14 million respectively.

CA says in the statistics report that the total available international Internet bandwidth capacity in the country also grew by 20% to 20 744.3 Gbps.

‘’This is attributed to the upgrade of the capacity during the reference period,‘’ it says.

The total utilised undersea bandwidth capacity grew by 1.5% to 11 155.154 Gbps, out of which 8 201.334 Gbps were used in the country and 2 953.820 Gbps were sold outside the country.

Satellite capacity also increased following the launch of Elon Musk-backed Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency LEO satellite Internet in the country in July last year.