Kenya’s “Build It and they Will Come” approach to broadband has led to broadband achievements being partially realized in less than five years since the ICT Policy was adopted. The Kenyan government has taken an active role in breaking the satellite dependency for international capacity and thus overcoming the first hurdle, with the highest upfront costs, in the broadband ecosystem. The delivery of international bandwidth over high-speed networks has been successfully accomplished with the landing of three cables to date. Stimulating demand remains a challenge. Kenya has proactively put in place a sound regulatory and policy framework, backed by clear strategies to try to improve this going forward.

However, broadband is not a panacea. Using innovative means, 2G mobile networks, service and applications are being used to achieve many of the same functionalities that broadband enables in Kenya including access to banking, mobile money and now e-commerce, SMS based e-government services, and even e-education through applications such as textbooks downloaded on mobile phones. The user experience would be enhanced through broadband networks, however, this does not mean that in the absence of broadband Kenya will remain behind. It is mainly businesses and the BPO sector that will be the beneficiaries, in the short term, of the broadband revolution that is taking place in Kenya – the same is likely to be true for all of the countries in the region. As with the evolution of 2G, broadband for the mass market, accompanied by low cost services and importantly devices, will be introduced over time as operators, vendors and equipment manufacturers broaden their consumer markets.

The strategy of improving Kenya’s positioning in terms of broadband access is deliberate, and is aligned with the objectives of Vision 2030. The glut of capacity enabled by infrastructure investments which have been both government led and privately driven, places Kenya in a strategic position in the region and in the continent and promises, if all other elements of the ecosystem are supportive, to improve socio-economic development. The cables have been laid and now the people need to come.