Growing demand for high-speed internet contributed to growth of 4G and 5G , CA report shows
The statistics showed that the mobile data subscriptions from June to September 2024 increased to 53.7 million, with the 4G subscribers making up 58.1 per cent.

The growing demand for high-speed internet in Kenya from June to September 2024 and continued investments had occasioned the increasing adoption of the 4G and 5G technologies, a latest report by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) dubbed ‘First Quarter Sector Statistics Report for Financial Year 2024/25, July 1 to September 30, 2024‘ shows.
The statistics showed that the mobile data subscriptions from June to September 2024 increased to 53.7 million, with the 4G subscribers making up 58.1 per cent.
The CA also revealed that the adoption of the 4G and 5G technologies in Kenya has continued to rise, primarily due to the growing demand for high-speed internet for activities like streaming, online learning, remote work, and e-commerce.
According to the data, the number of subscribers for the 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G has increased to 13,805,426, 7,770,305, 31,175,510, and 926,382 respectively.
The data also reveals that although the 3G broadband subscriptions and data consumption declined, the adoption of 4G and 5G technologies increased, highlighting a shift towards higher-speed networks.
The 4G and 5G technologies are mobile network technologies.
However, the 5G is significantly newer and more advanced as it offers improved speeds, lower latency, and the ability to connect a much larger number of devices simultaneously compared to the 4G.
The 5G is considered as the next generation of mobile internet, providing faster data transfer rates and better overall performance than 4G.
The report also disclosed that the total number of mobile phone devices connected to mobile networks was 67.7 million with a penetration rate of 131.5 per cent, with smartphones taking the lead with a penetration of 72.6 per cent.
According to the CA report, the special offers and promotions run by service providers during the review period contributed to the volume of outgoing domestic voice traffic grew by 5.5 per cent from 24.9 billion to 26.2 billion.
Similarly, the domestic SMS traffic grew to 13.7 billion messages, from 13.5 billion reported last quarter.
According to the report, the total average minutes per on-net call remained unchanged at 1.8 minutes whereas off-net calls grew to 1.3 minutes from 1.2 minutes recorded last quarter.
However, Airtel Networks Limited customers spent averagely 2.8 minutes on a single on-net call while Safaricom PLC spent 1.6 minutes and Jamii Telecommunications Ltd consumers spent 0.1 minutes on the same.
On the international calls, the incoming international mobile voice minutes grew by 11.9 per cent to 134.2 million during the reference period.
However, the outgoing international mobile voice traffic dropped from 175.7 million to 175.3 million. International incoming mobile SMS rose to 8.4 million whereas outgoing mobile SMS declined to post 2.6 million.
On the fixed internet subscriptions by technology, the total data/internet subscriptions rose by 4.9 to 1.57 million from 1.50 million recorded as of June 30, 2024.
The satellite internet subscriptions recorded a significant increase of 104.7 per cent during the reference period attributed to a customer acquisition campaign run by Starlink Internet Services Kenya that introduced an option to rent satellite equipment at a reduced cost.