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State utility firm Kenya Power, is looking to capitalise on the rapidly increasing mobile data use in the country by connecting millions of its customers in rural homes with high-speed Internet.
The loss making public liability company is diversifying its business as part of a fresh plan to grow new revenue streams, reported Business Daily.
This is a step up by the electricity distributor, which has been leasing fibre-optic cables attached to its transmission lines to Internet service providers.
Kenya Power said it would now directly target to connect rural customers with the Internet at a time it has expanded electricity penetration across the country by connecting millions of new homes in rural areas to its national grid.
The move will see Kenya Power in direct competition with Telkom Kenya, Kenya Data Networks, Safaricom, Jamii Telecoms, AccessKenya, Essar Telecoms and Wananchi Group in the battle for Internet customers.
In its latest annual report, Kenya Power said, “In the medium to long-term, the company is exploring the lit fibre business to increase the penetration of internet connectivity, particularly in the rural areas.”
The plan that could rattle Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that have been riding on the Kenya Power network to sell Internet gives the electricity distributor a head-start in the race for connecting rural homes with the Internet as it would ride on its electricity transmission network to link fibre networks to homes.
Currently, ISPs have been relying on Kenya Power’s expansive power transmission network to give them access to the nearly eight million electricity customers and substantially reduce the cost of expensive infrastructure support involving the digging of trenches to lay terrestrial cables.
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