Safaricom to share 4G with rivals

Safaricom will be required to cede at least 30 per cent capacity of its planned 4G network to rivals, the telecommunications regulator has said.

The policy move is intended to give other telcos a toehold on the high speed Internet grid.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) director-general Francis Wangusi, said in an interview on Wednesday that it has set infrastructure-sharing as a pre-condition for licensing Safaricom’s planned roll out of the 4G network.

Safaricom has announced that it intends to utilise extra capacity from the 4G frequencies allocated to it for a police communication system to roll out 4G Internet in 15 towns across the country.

“One of the conditions is that they must spare 30 per cent of the capacity to other operators to be shared on a commercial basis,” said Mr Wangusi.

Safaricom on Wednesday said it is yet to reach a final agreement with the regulator on terms of the 4G rollout and as such could not comment further on the matter.

Fourth generation (4G) network that offers high-speed Internet and capability for improved video streaming for heavy data users such as hospitals practising telemedicine.

“It is early days and we are still in discussions with the Communications Authority. We can comment in detail thereafter,” said Safaricom’s corporate affairs director Nzioka Waita in a response. 

The article first appeared in The Business Daily.