Mobile Internet Subscription Trends in Kenya

Abstract

Mobile phone communication is a sector that has been credited for playing a very vital role in the economy of most countries in the world. It has helped poor people in the rural areas to be able to communicate far within a very short time with minimal costs as opposed to earlier communication methods. The telecommunications market in Kenya was liberalized in 1999 with the licensing of two mobile operators at that time Safaricom Ltd and Celtel Kenya currently Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd while mobile internet communication was introduced in 2008. Since then its subscription has been growing steadily helping the Government to generate more revenues and create job opportunities. The current
mobile operators in Kenya are given as Safaricom Ltd, Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd, Essar Telecom Kenya Ltd and Telkom Kenya Ltd (Orange) through which the mobile internet service is provided. This paper discusses the present market condition of mobile internet in Kenya and the trends in subscription since 2008 when the mobile operators started providing the service. The paper also tries to find out what is likely to happen in a few years to come and provide a set of recommendations based on the analysis. The study was based on extensive literature review and secondary data sources mainly from CCK. The data obtained was analyzed using Matlab and Microsoft excel to obtain the relevant graphical representations as given in results and discussions.