Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Faster data is Safaricom's reply to Airtel


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Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore. The mobile service provider said it will double its broadband capacity next week opening a new battlefront in the data market April 3, 2012.
Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore. The mobile service provider said it will double its broadband capacity next week opening a new battlefront in the data market April 3, 2012. FILE 
By PAUL WAFULA pwafula@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, April 3  2012 at  12:15
Mobile service provider Safaricom will double its broadband capacity next week opening a new battlefront in the data market.
The move comes a month after its main rival Airtel launched a 3G network.
"The network will run at 42mega bits per second (mbps) from the current 21mbs and it will be the fastest network in the whole of East and Central Africa," Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said during the Connected Kenya Summit 2012 in Mombasa.
The firm has been under pressure to diversify its revenue streams away from voice following last year's price wars. But its quest to control the data market has in the recent past witnessed increasing competition especially from Telkom Orange and Airtel.
Airtel rolled out its 3G network in February putting it at par with Safaricom.  But the latter's move to double its capacity is seen as creating a niche in the market.
"We are already receiving the modems to support the new network," Mr Collynore said. The rollout will start in Nairobi and its environs before going national.
Connected Kenya is in its fourth year and is the brainchild of the Kenya ICT Board in consultation with industry players and government. The annual forum is a platform for collaboration, capacity building and knowledge sharing between the government and the ICT sector.
This year's summit--themed Knowledge and Beyond--has attracted over 500 delegates including captains of the ICT industry, IT practitioners and officials from the Vision 2030.
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The four-day conference will see discussions on how to build the knowledge economy, how to take advantage of the open data, linking innovation and trade. It will also will explore ways of involving citizens in the growth of the sector, and the opportunities in e-commerce and retail trade. Companies will be also showcase their latest products and services.
Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo is expected to present the National ICT Masterplan 2017, which outlines the government's blue print for ICT on Thursday.
Companies attending this year's summit include Safaricom, HP, Ericsson, Huawei, IBM, Orange and Jamii Telcom.
Others are Seven Seas Technologies, SAP, Accenture and EMC among others.

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