subscriptions in 2015. However, fixed Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) data reduced significantly from
14,512 subscriptions in 2014 to 3,732 subscriptions in 2015.
Bandwidth Capacity: Available bandwidth capacity increased by 83.0 per cent from 847,523 megabits
per second (mbps) in 2014 to 1,550,768 mbps in 2015. The increase in the bandwidth capacity was
attributed to fiber installation in the counties during the review period. The utilized bandwidth
capacity increased by 71.6 per cent to 854,551 mbps in 2015. The ratio of total utilized bandwidth to
available capacity shrank from 58.8 per cent in 2014 to 55.1 per.
Broadband Subscriptions: The total wireless broadband subscriptions increased from 4.2 million to
7.1 million due to significant uptake of the Global System for Mobile (GSM), which went up by 85.6
per cent to 6.3 million subscribers in 2015. This was occasioned by migration of CDMA to mobile
technology and the entry of Equitel subscribers. Fiber to home and office increased by 35.9 per cent
and 37.2 per cent, respectively.
Fixed and Mobile Telephone Charges: In 2015, the telephone services installation and subscription
fees remained unchanged at KSh 3,394 and KSh 580 per month, respectively. During the period, the
average call cost per minute of fixed to fixed local calls decreased from KSh 4.50 to KSh 3.00 while that
of fixed to mobile remained unchanged at KSh 9.00. The average call cost per minute of mobile-tomobile decreased from KSh 3.10 in 2014 to KSh 3.08 in 2015 while that of mobile to fixed remained
unchanged at KSh 3.25. However, the average price of SMS went up from KSh 1.00 to KSh 1.25.
Domains: The total number of domains grew by 33.8 per cent to 51,543 in 2015. The number of
“.co.ke” domains increased by 35.5 per cent to account for 92.7 per cent of the total registered
domains in 2015. The growth in the number of registered Kenyan based domains was mainly
attributed to the reduction in renewal and average annual fees from KSh 2,320 to KSh 580 and KSh
2,300 to KSh 650, respectively,
Media Frequencies and Subscriptions:
The number of Frequency Modulation (FM) for radio increased to 608 while television frequencies
rose to 302 in 2015. The number of digital signal distributors in the country increased to five due to
the entry of the self-provisioning and common carrier signal distributors in the market. The number
of digital TV stations increased to 62 due to the migration from analogue to digital platform. Digital
Terrestrial Televisions (STBs) subscriptions more than tripled to 3.7 million in 2015 while cable TV and
direct to home satellite subscriptions increased by 44.6 per cent and 18.3 per cent, respectively. The
number of radio stations increased by four to 139 stations in 2015.
ICT Penetration Rate (Total Population): During the year under review, ICT penetration rate improved
for all categories except that of the fixed line, which declined from 0.52 in 2014 to 0.19 in 2015. The
improvement in the uptake of ICT was partly attributed to the affordability of mobile phones in the
market; cheaper internet bundles offered by mobile operators and finalization of phase one of laying
the fiber optic cables across the country. The internet penetration stood at 54.2 per cent in 2015 with
that of wireless internet increasing to 53.9 per cent. Total broadband penetration increased to 16.4
per cent in 2015 from 9.9 per cent in 2014. The bits per second per capita (Bps/person) increased by
66.9 per cent to 20,293.0 in 2015. The mobile money penetration remained unchanged.
ICT Penetration Rate (3 years and above): This measures the ICT penetration for the population aged
three years and above which is considered capable of owning and using ICT equipment. The mobile
penetration stood at 94.0 per cent while internet penetration stood at 59.6 per cent in 2015.
Broadband subscriptions increased to 18.1 per cent in 2015 from 10.9 per cent in 2014.
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