A Different Internet Connection at Mukuru| Safaricom Newsroom

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:01][music] >> Meehan Sao and Geoffrey Odhiambo are among the 1080 people from the Mukuru Slums who have moved into the Mukuru Bomba Yangu estate in phase one of the project. They are also among the first to get a fiber [music] internet connection at home.

[00:00:30]>> [music] [music] [music] >> I've been using the internet to to drive my >> [music] >> my my my my programs, my business uh online.

[00:00:56]And [music] also to to to communicate with my friends and my family uh more efficiently. We walked in homes [music] where the homeowners actually 100% are doing a digital business. Theirs was not the usual type of connection. While most connections are via the gigabyte passive optical network, which uses multi-core cables that require splicing, [music] the connections at Mukuru are done using single cables that have a plug-and-play option. The shift results in a reduction in deployment time and costs. At Safaricom, uh we took [music] initiative uh to innovate around how do we get to connect 12 or 13,000 homes in a cost-effective way.

[00:01:41]We looked at our traditional way of building fiber [music] and we said it will not work for us.

[00:01:46]We are actually today have delivered [music] a very novel or innovative uh technology, what we are calling pre-connectorized [music] fiber.

[00:01:57]That each and every home is delivered [music] to the tenant ready with internet connectivity. It wasn't a long process.

[00:02:05]>> [music] >> It's just a simple procedure and then it was there. The Safaricom internet on offer [music] in the affordable housing project is dubbed Wi-Fi bamba. For 800 [music] shillings per month, a home gets speeds of up to 15 megabytes per second.

[00:02:19]One can connect a maximum of three devices at the same time. [music] There are plans to deliver weekly, daily, or even hourly plans to cater to the needs of Mukuru residents. We really need [music] to continue innovating around our services.

[00:02:33]In phase two also, we want to bundle internet, mobile internet, [music] and mobile voice to a certain element such that even >> [music] >> when the home user is not at home, they can continue to enjoy the services on our mobile [music] data, on our mobile voice services on the go. During the 2026 Connected [music] Africa Summit, a delegation of ministers from 12 African countries toward [music] the project.

[00:02:59]>> What we had come to show them is what we do with affordable housing >> [music] >> so that we can give decent homes for for for the lower cadre of society. At the same time, connecting homes to internet [music] so that the digital economy can thrive.

[00:03:16]We are able to present the future of urbanization of the African continent.

[00:03:21][music] We are able to show with our partner Safaricom our digital ready housing and be prepared. [music] Right now, we are being served by Safaricom. But of course, you know, government owns most of the undersea cable. So we want to make sure that fiber rolls >> [music] >> into all homesteads. How do we ensure that the digital transformation reaches the village, the farmer, the student, the micro [music] trader, and small business owner, and the public servant?

[00:03:50]Those are the questions. Digital transformation must rest on practical foundations. It must be built on infrastructure. It must be backed by public policy. Everybody needs [music] the internet, and you can see that transformative nature within which digital inclusion [music] can actually help us to bridge that gap.

[00:04:12]The digital inclusion availed at Mukuru through public-private partnership [music] between the Kenyan government, Safaricom, and Huawei is the proof of concept as to the future possible in digital inclusion in Kenya and across Africa.