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Electric utility Kenya Power aims to become one of Kenya’s largest internet service providers. The company plans to offer business customers Internet and electricity as a bundle. This will happen after conducting pilot tests with larger power users.
Statistics show that as of December 2021, Kenya Power had 8.59 million customers including small businesses and large industrial customers. The Communications Authority says the fixed-line Internet market is untapped, which may offer new revenue opportunities.
“We will offer our corporate customers a bundled service consisting of electricity and the Internet,” said Kenya Power Business Daily. “Kenya Power will leverage our vast network to enter the market… we will offer businesses the option to use our internet for their primary use or redundancy.”
If there are any concerns about delivery, it’s good to know they’ve been in this business for a while. They already lease fiber optic cables connected to their transmission lines to internet service providers. In addition, ISPs use Kenya Power’s extensive power transmission network to reduce cable laying costs.
Kenya Power says it has a three-year projection to bring internet to households, with its main target being rural households. As they already have a robust transmission network in rural Kenya, this is a guaranteed low cost of entry. They also plan to offer affordable packages to gain market share.