Kenya's internet penetration rate is reported to have surpassed the 100% mark and currently stands at 112.7%, according to the Communication Authority's First Quarter (July – September 2017) Sector Statistics report for the 2017/2018 financial year. Access to smartphones and an uptake of broadband are cited as the main reasons for the increase.

"The growth has now put broadband subscriptions at 17.6 million compared to 15.4 million posted in the preceding quarter. Consequently, broadband penetration increased to 38.8 percent during the quarter from 34.2 percent," the authority reported.

"The demand for data/Internet continues to soar, with the number of estimated data/Internet users jumping by 12.5 percent to post 51.1 million users compared to 45.4 million users reported in the previous quarter. Mobile data remains the key contributor to data/Internet subscriptions at 99 percent," reads an excerpt from the report.

Fibre optic technology boosted internet penetration, recording a growth of 65.5%. The numbers now stand at 90,534 compared to 54,700 in the previous period.

Companies such as Safaricom have recorded great growth in Fibre to the Home (FTTH) products. At their Half Year 2017 results announcement in November 2017, Safaricom said their 4,700 km fibre ring has passed over 90,000 homes and converted 28,000 users in one year.

The report also shows that mobile penetration in Kenya has now hit 90.4% and could match the penetration landmark set by internet access. However there was a slow uptake compared to the last quarter.

"There were 768,831 net additions in mobile subscriptions in this period compared to 1.1 million additions registered in the previous quarter," the report added.

The increase in mobile subscriptions has also fueled growth within mobile commerce and over Kshs 714.3 billion shillings was generated through Customer-to-Business (C2B), Business-to-Customer (B2C) and Business- to-Business (B2B). Additionally, Person- to-Person (P2P) transfers amounted to Kshs. 544.1 billion. In total transactions (sending and withdrawal of mobile money) stood at 537.2 million.