Kenya:ICT sector registers remarkable growth-Economic Survey 2010

The ICT sector in Kenya has kept growing with almost half of Kenya’s population now having access to telecommunication services.

Mobile telephony has grown by 34.2 percent, from 12.9million subscribers in 2008 to 17.4million subscribers in 2009 according to the just released economic survey 2010.Currently it is estimated the number of subscribers has surpassed the 20million mark. The mobile telephony capacity has also increased from 26.0million in 2008 to 29.0million in 2009.

However the demand for fixed line connection dropped by 72.4 per cent to 2,259 in 2009 reflection the shift to the use of mobile phones.The number of the once famous telephone booths dropped from 6,000 in 2008 to 5,000 last year.There were also major developments in the mobile telephony sector as competition among the four operators (YU, Orange, Zain and Safaricom) increased leading to lower call charges.

The report notes there was intensified provision of financial services via mobile phones by most operators, enabling subscribers to transfer money without need of holding bank accounts.

SMS popularity

Text messaging is becoming more and more popular among Kenyans. The volume of short messaging Service increased to 3,284.7million from 361 million in 2008.
Expanded penetration of mobile phones and portable Internet modems has also seen more Kenyans connected to the Internet.

Internet users increased from 3,4million in June 2008 to 3.6million in June 2009.

The number of active Internet Service Providers however fell from 56 in 2008 to 52 last year.

The year 2009 also saw the Government launch of Digital TV broadcasting which is expected to improve the quality of content produced.

The year saw 28 FM new frequencies assigned to broadcasters compared to 30 FM frequencies assigned in 2008. Parliament got 22 frequencies, KBC (2) and private broadcasters (4).

It was also the year when Parliament enacted the Kenya Communications Amendment Act, 2009 which expanded mandate of Communication Commission of Kenya to include regulating broadcasting and electronic transactions.
Penalties were also introduced for cyber related crimes, a move that would boost e-commerce.

Submarine cables

The submarine cableswill enhance affordability for users and improved international connectivity between Kenya and the rest of the world. The ongoing construction of fibre optic connecting all district headquarters in the country will boost the national transmission infrastructure in the country,” reads the survey report in part.

According to the survey, postal services continue to be overtaken by emerging private courier services.

Six post offices were closed in 2009 reducing the number to 701 down from 207 post offices in 2008. There was reduced number of reduced number of installed private letter-boxes by 2.2 per cent from 414,000 to 405,000 in 2009.The number of post offices has reduced from 834 in 2004 with private courier operator outlets increasing from 437 in 2005 t0 606 in 2008 and to 622 last year.

The number of licensed courier has also increased from 148 in 2008 to 180 last year marking a 21.6 per cent growth. Between 2008 and 2009 private courier operator outlets grew by 2.6 per cent.