Kenya’s fixed broadband market expanded robustly in the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, driven by parallel surges in fibre-to-the-home deployments and a rapidly accelerating wireless segment.
- •Total fixed internet subscriptions rose 6.9% to reach 2.29 million, new industry data reveals, underscoring the country’s deepening digital connectivity.
- •The latest Communications Authority (CA) figures for the July-September 2025 period show a market in transition: while fibre-optic infrastructure remains the dominant foundation, lower-cost wireless technologies are posting the highest growth rates as providers target peri-urban and underserved regions.
- •Despite increasing its user base, satellite services collectively comprise less than 1% of the total market.
Market leadership remained firmly with telco giant Safaricom PLC, which added a net 80,000 subscriptions to cement its position with 815,037 home internet customers, commanding a 35.6% market share. Jamii Telecommunications Ltd (JTL) solidified its second-place standing at 466,458 subscribers (20.4%), while Wananchi Group (including its Simbanet and Wananchi Telecom brands) held steady in third with 270,320 connections.
The mid-tier segment displayed vigorous competition. Poa Internet and Ahadi Wireless reported 265,729 and 181,719 subscribers respectively, while niche wireless internet service providers (WISPs) like Vilcom Networks (107,763) and Mawingu Networks (84,099) posted significant gains, reflecting a diversifying competitive landscape.
Fibre continues to anchor the market, with subscriptions rising 5.4% to 1.27 million. The data confirms a clear consumer preference for mid-range broadband packages, particularly within the Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) segment. Over 960,000 customers, the vast majority of the market, now subscribe to speeds between 10 and 30 Mbps.
In another notable trend, the appetite for ultra-high-speed connections appears to be niche. The number of subscriptions for 1 Gbps (Gigabit) and above fell by 18.5% during the quarter, from 701 to 571.
The most dynamic segment of the market was wireless with total fixed-wireless subscriptions jumping 10.2% to 814,782. This includes 795,020 terrestrial wireless connections and 19,762 satellite users. The sharp growth of WISPs like Vilcom, Mawingu, and Vijiji Connect (17,285) points to a strategic push into areas beyond the fibre footprint, leveraging quicker, lower-cost deployment models.
Satellite internet, led by Starlink’s base of 19,470 users, continues its steady but constrained growth. Industry observers note that high terminal costs and regulatory licensing frameworks continue to limit mass adoption, though the technology remains critical for hard-to-reach locations.
On the international infrastructure front, Kenya’s total lit bandwidth capacity remained flat at 22,311 Gbps, anchored by multiple undersea cable systems including SEACOM, EASSY, TEAMS, and DARE 1. However, the utilized portion of this capacity grew by 2.8%, indicating rising consumption of high-speed connectivity.
