Telkom Kenya has received a Ksh. 4.1 billion ($40 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Telkom will use the loan to expand coverage and capacity of Telkom’s telecommunications network. They will invest in their 3G and 4G coverage countrywide. They will also invest invest in their Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) network for its enterprise and corporate customers. The focus will include investments into access, core, transmission and IT (Information Technology) components; infrastructure that is crucial to further improving network reliability and accessibility.
EIB Vice President Mr. Ambroise Fayolle has this to say about the loans “In terms of how mobile services are used, we could say that Kenya is ahead of Europe, and both the market and possibilities are growing fast. One attention point is the coverage, which is why we are happy to support Telkom’s growth strategy in expanding its 3G and 4G networks across the country. This loan will also benefit its fixed broadband network; a service which is widely seen as a basic need for businesses to be competitive in a global market.”
Telkom CEO, Mr. Mugo Kibati, added “Telkom’s focus is to be Kenya’s preferred Data network, which will be done by evolving into a stronger and future-fit Telco. The strategic support from the EIB will give impetus to Telkom’s data network expansion, that has seen Telkom consistently enhance indoor coverage, expand our 4G network, optimise our 3G network, thereby boosting our capacity to handle mobile data traffic, in response to growing customer demand.”
Telkom’s network expansion focus has also seen it partner with Loon LLC, a sister company to Google and a subsidiary of Alphabet, to pilot a 4G/LTE access network service in Kenya, using high altitude balloons, that will act as floating cell towers.