The Communications Authority (CA) has confirmed that Airtel Kenya has finalised payment for its 4G LTE licence Kenya. The telecom operator paid $25 million licence fee for the 4G LTE 800 MHz signal.
Airtel Kenya, which has been trialling 4G for the past one year, becomes the second telco in the country to acquire a full 4G license after Safaricom did so back in January of 2017, after a two-year trial phase. Other Telcos, that is, Telkom Kenya and Faiba 4G have also been using their 4G trial license, which are expiring in March and June this year respectively.
Airtel Kenya has not yet officially launched the high-speed network, but it has been testing the signal across the country since April 2017 with an aim to grow sites covered by the spectrum to 65 sites. In October 2017, the company applied to extend its 4G trial licence.
Telkom Kenya and Jamii Telecom have also rolled out 4G for home broadband and mobile telecommunications respectively in a bid to increase their market share.
Data from CA shows that during the June-September period Airtel Networks Limited recorded a market share of 15.7 percent in mobile data subscriptions, second to Safaricom’s 76 percent market share.
The Authority has been keen to switch to the high-speed 4G network from 3G, saying it will enable the telcos to offer broadband-based TV broadcasts.
