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 Kenya - Convergence, Broadband & Internet Markets
Synopsis
The landing of three fibre optic international submarine cables in Kenya in 2009 and 2010, ending its dependency on limited and expensive satellite bandwidth, has revolutionised the country's Internet and broadband sector. Prices for international wholesale bandwidth have fallen by 90%, finally taking the Internet to the mass market. However, ISPs have only reluctantly passed on the cost savings to end-customers, which has prompted the industry regulator to consider price caps.
Companies that started out as ISPs - such as AccessKenya, Kenya Data Networks (KDN) and Wananchi - are transforming themselves into second-tier telecom companies by rolling out national and metropolitan fibre backbones and wireless broadband access networks, offering converged voice, data and video/entertainment services. At least six major deployments of WiMAX technology are underway, and third generation (3G) mobile broadband services with up to 7.2Mb/s have been launched. Advanced services such as IPTV/triple-play, e-commerce, e-learning and e-government are now rapidly evolving. In addition, with its new majority shareholder France Telecom, Telkom Kenya has embarked on a strategy to transform itself into a true broadband connectivity provider under the Orange brand.
Last Update: 30 Apr 2010 Number of Pages: 20
Single User: USD $110.00 ex-GST View Table of Contents
Kenya - Key Statistics, Regulatory & Fixed-Line Telecoms Overviews
Synopsis
Kenya's telecommunications and broadband market is undergoing a revolution following the arrival of three fibre optic international submarine cables in Kenya in 2009 and 2010 (Seacom, TEAMS and EASSy), ending its dependency on limited and expensive satellite bandwidth. Bandwidth prices had already fallen significantly following the liberalisation of international gateway and national backbone network provision in 2005, but they have now fallen by 90%, enabling cheaper tariffs for telephone calls and broadband Internet services.
The country's incumbent fixed-line telco, Telkom Kenya, is revamping its infrastructure and services under the Orange brand with fresh capital from its new majority shareholder, France Telecom, and it has also re-entered the mobile market. A simplified and converged licensing regime introduced in 2008 has lowered the barriers to market entry and increased competition by allowing operators to offer any kind of service in a technology- and service-neutral regulatory framework. Various competitors such as Kenya Data Networks (KDN), AccessKenya and Jamii Telecom are rolling out national and metropolitan fibre backbones and wireless access networks to take the new bandwidth and services to population centres across the country. Several fibre infrastructure sharing agreements have been forged.
Regulatory issues on the agenda in 2010 include tariff regulation, interconnection, number portability and universal service.
Last Update: 30 Apr 2010 Number of Pages: 24
Single User: USD $110.00 ex-GST View Table of Contents
Kenya - Mobile Market - Overview, Statistics & Forecasts
Synopsis
A price war has characterised Kenya's mobile communications market in 2008 and 2009, following the market entry of the third and fourth network, Econet Wireless Kenya (EWK, in which India's Essar acquired a stake), and Telkom Kenya under the Orange brand with its new majority shareholder, France Telecom. Subscriber growth is now forecast to slow over the coming years, and rapidly falling ARPU levels have driven one of the incumbents, Zain, deeper into negative earnings, leaving only the market leader, Safaricom, with a net profit, although reduced.
The operators are developing new revenue streams from third generation (3G) broadband and mobile banking services. The leading operator is planning LTE trials in 2010. With market penetration rates in Kenya's broadband and traditional banking sector still extremely low, the mobile networks have an opportunity to relive the phenomenal growth rates seen in the voice sector in recent years.
This report contains an overview and analysis of Kenya's mobile market, profiles of the major players, relevant statistics, analysis, and subscriber forecasts for 2012 and 2015.
Last Update: 30 Apr 2010 Number of Pages: 24
Single User: USD $140.00 ex-GST View Table of Contents
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