According to a press release I received this morning, Safaricom now has over 1 million active 4G users on its network. At the same time, Safaricom has 4G coverage in all 47 counties in the country which means that they have the widest 4G coverage of all mobile networks in Kenya as well.

Safaricom’s 4G leadership stems from an expanded 4G network, increasingly affordable 4G capable mobile devices and lastly more cost effective mobile data bundles. Indeed, its possible to get 4G mobile devices for as little as Kes. 6,000.00 which is a massive drop from what they used to cost a couple of years ago when 4G was launched in Kenya.

Safaricom’s branded ‘4G+’ network has the capacity to achieve speeds of 150 mbps which would make it also the fastest 4G network in the country at the moment. Data prices on Safaricom have also reduced by an aggregate of 29 percent, leading to increasing usage across the board.

Its an interesting time for 4G in Kenya since Faiba 4G was launched last week with really low prices on data bundles. Telkom Kenya launched their 4G network in August 2017 meaning that Kenya now has 3 active 4G networks operational with Airtel Kenya the only network that is not yet 4G capable.

Going forward, what remains to be seen is whether Safaricom will continue to dominate 4G services in Kenya given that they now have over 1 million active users making them the market leader by a fairly large margin. It also means that Safaricom’s mobile ecosystem continues to evolve and grow ahead of competitors ensuring that they can keep stretching their lead whenever required.