CA to spend Sh2b to help remote places access ICT services
PROJECTS: The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) will spend Sh2 billion from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to enable 635,113 Kenyans across 274 sub-locations access Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services.
In a race against time to ensure Kenya is digitally transformed, the fund will facilitate the roll-out of the ICT services through infrastructure projects, including the requisite subsidies.
As of December 2020, the fund had Sh12.76 billion. It is primarily financed by mandatory contributions from licensed operators which provide services in the various communications market segments, with provisions for complementary financing from other sources. CA is mandated to manage and administer the fund.
“CA has also identified about 71 sub-locations that are yet to be covered as of 2021.
These are sub-locations that although falling under operators’ coverage obligations the coverage realisation would take more time and have therefore been earmarked for Phase 3 intervention,”said Emma Otieno, CA’s manager Universal Service Fund.
The government is leveraging USF to deliver affordable connectivity to all Kenyans through the ICT platform, enabling them to open small and macro enterprises, and also access health, and education services.
Otineo said about 96 per cent of the population is now on 2G network, while 95 per cent are on broadband (3G and 4G), an area operators are now focusing on.
She said all counties are now covered by the National Optic Fibre Backbone (Nofb), with 95 per cent of the population within 50 km and 81 per cent within 25 km of the backbone. The process of accessing sub-counties is ongoing, she added.
Currently, the three leading mobile network operators (MNOs) only cover commercially viable areas, where they are assured of return on investment, a matter Otieno said has exposed far flung Northern Frontier counties.
