Safaricom in Collaboration with Huawei introduces low-cost internet in Kenya

Safaricom in collaboration with Huawei introduces low-cost internet connection in some parts of Kenya. This is one of the Huawei Rural Star initiatives.

Many Kenyans are concerned with the high data cost and insecurity as a result of internet use. Despite the high charges, Digital evolution index recognized Kenya as a rapidly evolving country digitally in the year 2017. The partnership between Huawei and Safaricom has introduced a low-cost rural base station providing 2G and 3G networks. This offer is not available for all consumers yet but it is now available to the Duse village in Isiolo County.

Cost

According to Huawei, the cost of setting up the project is relatively low compared to the traditional sites. The site is powered by solar energy and has a battery backup, and it sufficiently serves the whole village which has a population of 1500-2000 people. Adam Lane, Huawei Kenya senior director public affairs noted that the operational costs were reduced by half because of not having to pay for power.

Some other innovations that make the site low cost include; the physical tower, which is well suited for the market, and the backhaul (where the base station gets internet from) is cheaper compared to other means. Although this project doesn’t offer a solution for everything, it is suitable for villages within a radius of two to three kilometers from the base station; which is the case in most rural parts of Kenya.

Huawei Rural Star

Huawei rural Star is an initiative by the Tech Company to roll out an Easy to deploy mobile telecommunication solution to bridge the digital divide in the remote part of Africa.

The base station was launched as part of Huawei Rural Star solution. The main reason why the company rolled out the solution was to bridge the digital divide in the rural areas of Kenya and other parts of Africa. The Rural Star solution reduces the total cost of building and running a mobile network by up to 70 percent. This provides operators with a great opportunity for constructing low-cost sites, hence providing connectivity and digital services to more people living in rural and remote areas.