Kenya Power is set to start distributing high speed internet to businesses after a successful pilot with a number of corporate users. The company will provide the service through a package bundled with electricity and internet as it seeks to tap into the country’s internet demands.
“We will provide our corporate sector customers with a bundled service of electricity and internet,” Kenya Power said in a statement to the Business Daily.
The electricity provider already has a laid-down infrastructure after leasing its fibre-optic cables attached to its transmission lines to internet service providers.
“Kenya Power will leverage on our vast network to tap into the market…we will offer the corporates the option of using our internet for their primary use or redundancy.”
Read: Safaricom Beats Zuku to Dominate Fixed Data Market
The company’s enormous network of fiber cables connected to its transmission lines will enable the company make a cheap and seamless entry into the fixed internet market.
The company says the packages have been priced competitively to allow them gain a majority of the market share. Zuku, Safaricom and Jamii Telkom already control 85.1 percent of the country’s fixed data market.
Kenya power says it has a three year projection to deliver internet to homes, with its primary target being rural homes. Electricity transmission lines already form the basis for the network that will be used to link fibre networks to homes.
ISPs have been relying on Kenya Power’s transmission network to reach Kenya’s millions of electricity users and significantly lower the cost of expensive infrastructure assistance such as trench construction for terrestrial cable laying.
Read also: DStv Launches Fixed Home Internet in South Africa
Kenya Power originally envisioned the fiber optic connections as a way to improve grid monitoring. The company’s enormous network of fiber cables connected to its transmission lines will now provide the cheapest entry into the fixed internet market.
However, internet providers started taking a preference for it given that Kenya Power’s fibre optic network is located on top of live power lines, which offers more security against vandals.
The utility company currently has an ongoing 20 year lease worth Sh420 million with Safaricom and a 5 year lease with both Wananchi Group and Telkom worth Sh403 million each.
“Looking at the business landscape, the opportunities are immense and available for everyone,” says Kenya Power.
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