Kenyan operator Safaricom has announced plans to increase investments in its 4G network and internet connection packages for homes and businesses towards the end of its financial year. Interim CEO Michael Joseph has said its focus in the next months would be on network and infrastructure growth in the grassroots areas. Over the first six months, it added 732 LTE sites, increasing the number by 50 percent and expanding its coverage to 63 percent.
The infrastructure addition cost KES 18 billion, KES 1 billion more than Safaricom spent in the same period in 2018. The investments can be attributed to the 14.4 percent increase in net profit to KES 35.65 billion over the period. Chief finance officer Sateesh Kamath said this was driven by a 5.3 percent increase in service revenue to KES 124.32 billion. M-Pesa revenue grew by 18.2 percent to KES 41.97 billion. However, income from calls made by mobile subscribers declined 1.4 percent to KES 46.87 billion and messaging revenue declined by 11 percent to KES 8.60 billion.
Over the period, fibre to the home (FTTH) grew by 11.1 percent, representing 60 percent of the total contribution to fixed revenue growth. Fibre to the business (FTTB) was the second biggest contributor at 5.6 percent. The number of homes connected to fibre rose to 114,700 from 79,400 in same period last year. Businesses connected to fixed data links increased to 21,600 from 18,600 year over year.
