Wananchi Telecom expands range of products with eye on SMEs

Wananchi Telecom has diversified its range of fibre optic products to support the country’s growing small and medium enterprises.

Company Chief Operating Officer for Kenya Tony Wood said the products, dubbed SimbaBiz have low-cost Internet and malware protection. The idea is to cash in on investment in fibre and pass on the savings to customers.

“SME’s don’t always have the IT skills and resources to be able to compete online effectively, so, these product bundles allow them to market themselves globally,” Mr Wood said in Nairobi yesterday.

The package is delivered on the firm’s fibre infrastructure that provides triple play services — voice, Internet and television services linked to businesses using a single cable.

SimbaBiz comes in three packages of eight, 16 and 32 megabytes per second Internet speed.

They contain web hosting, domain name, Internet protocol (IP) telephony, cyber security threat management, cloud disaster recovery, TV and free conference call.

Wananchi Telecom fibre infrastructure has been completed in Nairobi and is being rolled out in Mombasa, with plans to expand to the remaining 45 counties in the course of the year.

The company has invested more than Sh2 billion in its grid in the past few years, laying a 2,000-kilometre fibre network that it uses to offer services on Zuku.

Through SimbaNet, the firm’s provider of telecommunication services, there are plans to capture the East African Market with specific interests in SMEs, government and NGOs.

The product has been in the market for 18 months before its official launch, with 2,000 customers connected.