, NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 2 – Safaricom says it is still on course to provide 4G coverage across every town in Kenya before the end of the year.
Interim CEO Michael Joseph says development of the network remains a key strategic objective for the company in the current financial year.
This year, the company has invested Sh18 billion towards increasing the number of 4G sites by 50 percent and expanded coverage to 63 percent.
“Investment in network infrastructure is key to support the customer base and uptake of innovative products. The development of our 4G network remains a strategic objective in this financial year,” Joseph said.
The announcement was made when the company released their financial results for half year ending September 31st 2019, which saw record a 14.4 percent rise in net profit to hit Sh35.65 billion, largely driven by growth of M-Pesa and mobile data.
As per the results, mobile data customers grew by 14.8 percent with a positive outlook for second half expected with a sustained momentum.
Data consumption per customer per MB also increased by 43.6 percent during the period.
Last year, the company announced that it would spend over Sh36 billion in driving up additional 4G coverage, which would see the company roll out an additional 2,030 4G and 4G+ base stations to reach more than 80 percent of the Kenyan population.
