Safaricom is known as Kenya's biggest telco. It has recently announced that it will begin trials for the 5G internet and the technology used will be acquired from Huawei and Nokia. According to a report by 5gradar, it was announced on Friday that four cities were given priority for the trials namely Nairobi, Kisumu, Kissi and Kakamega.
The trials however will eventually be expanded to 150 sites, including in 9 urban areas in an estimated period of about 12 months. For more details on the 5G roll out keep on reading.
Plan to execute the 5G network
It will only be a matter of time till the company establishes if the customers will be able to enjoy speeds up to 700 Mbps with plans to offer up to 1000 Mbps speeds in the next few months, which is also the primary objective of the trials.
700 Mbps is more than three times faster than the current 4G network. 5G network also has better connectivity compared to the current 4G network, meaning far more devices can now be connected to the internet in a particular area using the 5G network.
Safaricom's customers on the trial will be provided with a 5G router to use. The 5G services will also be actively working on some 5G phones namely Huawei Mate 30 Pro and P40 for now and by the end of April 2021 on the Nokia 8.3, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. The 5G phones will be available for purchase at Safaricom Shops.
Since the 5G technology is an upgraded version of the Home Fiber and Fiber for Business Services, it will be an opportunity for the telco to expand its network and target customers in places where the fibre network was yet to be rolled out.
Partners
Safaricom has chosen Nokia and Huawei as their technology partners. The abovementioned two companies will be responsible to implement the 5G network rollout.
Huawei is however considered a security threat, accused of having internal relations with the Chinese government and it is said that the Chinese government can manipulate the telco to espionage on other countries. The US has urged other countries to exclude Huawei from their 5G network rollout due to security concerns. Huawei however, has denied all accusations and managed to get business in East Africa.
