Telecommunication systems: general assessment:
through increased competition, Kenya’s telecom market has improved international bandwidth and experienced rapid development in mobile sector, including remote regions; four fiber-optic submarine cables reduced costs and increased service to population; government supported LTE and broadband, promising economic support of free WiFi; mobile operators progress with 5G tests; e-commerce interoperability; importer of broadcasting equipment, video displays, and computers from China (2021)
(2020)domestic: fixed-line subscriptions stand at less than 1 per 100 persons; multiple providers in the mobile-cellular segment of the market fostering a boom in mobile-cellular telephone usage with teledensity reaching 104 per 100 persons (2019)
international: country code - 254; landing point for the EASSy, TEAMS, LION2, DARE1, PEACE Cable, and SEACOM fiber-optic submarine cable systems covering East, North and South Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat; launched first micro satellites in 2018 (2019)
note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments
Definition: This entry includes a brief general assessment of a country's telecommunications system with details on the domestic and international components. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on Saturday, September 18, 2021
