Capital FM Kenya and Reuters have done a great job covering the Q4 FY11/12 Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) quarterly report (April – June 2012) on mobile and Internet statistics. Both sources tout the steady progress made by mobile, Internet, and fixed lines. However, the report itself carries some additional information and graphics that are worth sharing.

We examine the data as it relates to the Internet uptake. Increased demand for Internet and data services, use of social media, competitive tariffs by the mobile operators, and aggressive promotional offers have driven Internet usage.

Internet Subscriptions:

• Internet subscriptions rose by 19.2 percent quarterly (now at 7.7 million).
• The annual growth in the estimated number of Internet users was recorded at 11.9 percent (now at 14.032 million users).
• Fibre subscriptions registered 26.7 percent growth (still only 49,371 subscriptions) while satellite subscription declined by 34.1 percent.

Internet Penetration:

• At the end of June 2012, Internet penetration rose to 35.5 percent (an increase of 5.5 percentage points). The annual growth for the population that had access to Internet was recorded as 14.3 percentage points.

Broadband Subscriptions:

• Total broadband subscriptions grew by 11.5 percent to reach 726,802. On annual basis, the subscriptions grew five-fold.
• Of the total number of subscriptions, broadband subscriptions only represented 9.4 percent of all Internet subscriptions.

 

International Bandwidth:

• The annual growth in the Internet/data market segment can be attributed to the increase in international connectivity bandwidth by 58 percent to 264,584 Mbps.
• The total available bandwidth in the country was recorded as 574,704 Mbps during the quarter under review (up 7.3% versus the previous quarter), and the used bandwidth represented 46 percent of the total available bandwidth capacity.

 

Source: “Quarterly Sector Statistics Report, Fourth Quarter of the Financial Year 2011/2012 (April-June 2012),” Communications Commission of Kenya