Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecoms operator, has become the first internet service provider in the country to surpass one million fixed broadband subscribers. According to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the company had 1,024,950 subscribers by the end of June 2026, turning a business that was barely present nine years ago into a major growth driver.
The milestone gives Safaricom a 36.1% market share and validates a volume-led strategy. Management used its existing mobile money and cellular networks to bring home broadband into the same ecosystem, linking more services around the customer.
Yet this broadband empire faces structural strain. While Safaricom suppressed short-term profit margins to acquire users to capture market share, its aggressive data-throttling policy has ignited consumer backlash.
At the same time, newly recapitalised rivals are mounting aggressive challenges, and barriers to entry have become so severe that global telecommunications giants are retreating from the infrastructure layer entirely.
Originally published by TechCabal.