Shame of 2.6 million Kenyans cut out from mobile phone revolution

Ochen Sakita Maiyani of Ilngwesi community in Laikipia County checks his messages on his smart phone after getting network signal. Unfortunately for him, he has to walk five Kilometres from his village to access the mobile network. He wishes the network could be accessible via solar panel like his solar charger that has become handy as their village does not have electricity power. PHOTO.FIDELIS KABUNYI

Today, more than 2.6 million Kenyans do not have access to basic mobile telephony services. This means that services such as mobile money that have empowered ordinary folks and made organisations rethink their business models are unheard of among this lot.   

According to the 2016 Access Gap study by the Communications Authority of Kenya, 5.6 per cent of the about 47 million Kenyans do not have access to basic voice services.

Thus when other Kenyans take to the Internet to complain about low bandwidth or that operators are gobbling up their bundles or extol the virtues of 4G, there are those who have to use traditional, even archaic methods, to get in touch with the authorities whenever they are faced with an emergency.  

In counties such as Wajir, Turkana, Samburu, Marsabit, Isiolo, Garissa and Mandera, only a handful of residents have access to the voice services.

This means that these people have to travel for long distances to make a telephone call. According to CA, only about a third of people in Turkana County have access to 2G services. Other counties that have poor access are Wajir (48 per cent), Isiolo (54.4 per cent), Samburu (55.5 per cent), Marsabit (56.6 per cent) and Garissa (58.1 per cent).

CA plans to spend Sh1.5 billion this year to increase network coverage to these areas. The telecommunications industry regulator said the infrastructure deployed will improve voice services and reduce the uncovered population to 2.8 per cent by next year.

“Voice services make a large contribution to closing the remaining gaps. This will reduce the population coverage gap from 5.6 per cent of the population to around half (2.8 per cent) by 2018,” said CA.

The money will come from the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is a kitty made up of contributions from industry players. The fund is used to increase  access to ICTs in areas where the operators cannot reach, mostly because it is uneconomical. Operators pay one per cent of their gross revenues to the fund which is managed by CA.

INTERNET CONNECTIVITY

“The USF has collected Sh4.9 billion of which Sh1.5 billion is planned for use on voice infrastructure projects expansion and schools broadband connectivity within the current financial year 2016/17. As per my narrative, the providers have been contracted for the identified projects,” said CA’s Assistant Director for Communications and External Affairs, Ms Rachel Alwala.

The authority said the funds would pay for providing Internet connectivity to 896 secondary schools across the country. Provision of Internet connectivity to all the 7,000 secondary schools with be undertaken in a phased approach.