Is the Internet too expensive in Kenya?

The ICT industry regulator the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) publishes its report on the state of the Telecommunication industry in Kenya quarterly.

In its recent report, the CCK has some impressive figures that shows a vibrant sector that continues to grow. 

With annual investments of Shs29 billion registered in the industry, 30 million or 78% of Kenyans using mobile phones and 16 million or 41% of Kenyans accessing the Internet amongst other statistics does paint a rosy picture for the Kenyan Telecommunication Sector.

However, a closer analysis of the data reveals another picture with some difficult realities to be addressed.

The first being that whereas Kenya boasts of 41% of its citizens using the Internet, only one million (2.5%) are using broadband quality Internet. 

Broadband quality Internet is defined in the report as having minimum speeds of 256Kbs up/down. 

In layman terms, a broadband link is what you will need to watch an online video clip without a break in the transmission.

It is the international standard for an effective and quality connection to the Internet  In other words, 97.5% of Kenyans access the Internet on rudimentary links and mobile devices that allow us to only do basic tasks like email, tweeting or Facebook.

For Kenyans to make effective and more productive use of the Internet, they will need broadband quality links that will open up digital opportunities such as telecommuting, e-learning, e-medicine, e-policing amongst others. So why are very few Kenyans using broadband quality Internet? Is because it is not available or perhaps it is too expensive?  The answer is both. Broadband quality Internet in Kenya is both too expensive and quite restricted to major urban centres.

In its latest annual report, measuring the information society, the International Telecommunication Union, rates Kenya at number 133 globally, in terms of Internet affordability. This is way behind behind Tunisia(at 66), Botswana (at 81) and India (at 85). 

Like in the energy sector, where cost of electricity and fuel continues to hamper developmental goals, Internet quality and costs will continue to be a roadblock towards Kenya's Vision to be the amongst the top ICT destination in Africa and eventually globally.

The regulator has so far made the right moves such as maintaining a liberalised the Internet market, encouraging competition, introducing number portability, amongst others. 

However, the impact of these interventions on the cost of accessing quality broadband Internet services has not been  significant. Perhaps the regulator needs to be more innovative in its approach by daring to do what so far has been impossible.

It should for example release the 2.4GHz frequency band is reserved for our military use while internationally it has long been re-assigned and opened up for operators to use in providing cheaper Internet services. 

The regulator will perhaps need to evaluate the fact the the Kenyan Internet market is a de facto "duopoly" with Safaricom enjoying 75% market share with the rest of the operators sharing out the remaining 25% of the market.  A dominant market player is likely to dictate prices that prohibit a large number of users from participating in the Internet service. 

Finally, the regulator may wish to tell us how it intends to utilise the Universal Service Fund which charges operators 1% of their annual revenues, in order to address communication challenges that include provision of affordable Internet services.

J. Walubengo is a Lecturer at the Multimedia University of Kenya. Twitter @jwalu.