This is an article for which I was interviewed a week ago by Russell Southwood of Balancing Act. The interview I had basically covered the state of Internet and mobile uptake in Kenya since the high speed undersea cables went live in East Africa last year. You can read the article here>
Tag Archive for 'Internet'
In the news today, SEACOM, the high speed undersea cable operator has completed a new cable branch that now links East Africa directly to Europe via the Red Sea. This new development means that faster connectivity will now be possible directly to Europe from East Africa and it will also add an extra level of redundancy to the SEACOM network. The additional capacity is expected to be crucial for carrying lucrative data for television broadcasters during the 2010 FIFA World Cup from South Africa. More information on this new development from SEACOM can be found at the Business Daily here>
Safaricom is clearly pushing as low and as wide as they can in getting everyone in Kenya to use their Safaricom Live! internet services. Their latest “Internet Mkononi” (i.e. Internet in your hand) offer of Kes. 2,699.00 for a Nokia 1680 is probably the least expensive GPRS internet capable offer in the marketplace at this time (which also includes Kes. 250.00 of free airtime).
The Nokia 1680 offer was published in a full page ads in the Media this past week and is bound to see a good number of purchases this month. The phone itself, as advertised, also has Nokia’s OVI Mail, a Full Color Screen, Camera, Ultra-long battery life and Multimedia Messaging (MMS).
In a recent post, I had (inaccurately) said that Zain Kenya had launched some new low cost prepaid and postpaid data bundles. As it turned out, unknown to me at the time, Zain had actually launched the bundles late last year but they only really stared promoting them (aggressively) over the last week or so.
Therefore, on this post, rather than make the same mistake, I would just like to point out some “new” information that has come to my attention this week. YU which is Kenya’s third mobile network in terms of total subscribers has launched a range of low cost prepaid limited and unlimited use data bundles.
The rates are even lower than Zain Kenya’s, although, once again, they are only available on 2.5G speeds. In addition, the YU data modem costs are also lower than the competition at Kes. 1,799.00. The details on the bundles are as follows:
- Unlimited Daily: Kes. 49.00
- Unlimited Monthly: Kes. 999.00
- 100 MB Data Bundle: Kes. 250.00
- 250 MB Data Bundle: Kes. 500.00
- 750 MB Data Bundle: Kes. 1,000.00
- 3 GB Data Bundle: Kes. 2,000.00
In an earlier post on this blog a couple of months ago, I had expressed my dissatisfaction that all the mobile operators in Kenya seemed to be launching “me too” Internet services in the marketplace which had almost identical features and lacked creativity that was market-driven. Therefore, it came as a pleasant surprise this past week when Zain Kenya launched some new and highly flexible unlimited and limited usage Internet bundles that buck this trend.
If this is a precursor to some of the changes we can expect when Bharti Airtel’s US$ 10.7 Billion acquisition of Zain Africa takes full effect then we are already seeing some creativity that could tip market share balances as they stand today. To note though is that Zain Kenya still does not have a 3G service in place and therefore they only offer speeds within GPRS and EDGE (collectively known as 2.5G).
The reason why Zain Kenya, Orange Kenya and YU mobile networks do NOT yet have 3G unlike Safaricom is that none of them are willing pay the exhorbitant US$ 25 Million that is required to secure a 3G license from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). This has become a major bone of contention in the rapid proliferation of broadband Internet connectivity throughout Kenya as CCK has so far refused to lower it since Safaricom made the payment a few year ago – only time will tell how this pans out.
Below are the new Zain Kenya internet bundle rates as published in Kenyan media:
Unlimited Prepaid Internet Bundles.
- Unlimited 1 day @ Kes. 250.00
- Unlimited 10 days @ Kes. 1,250.00
- Unlimited 20 days @ Kes. 2,250.00
- Unlimited 30 days @ 3,250.00
Prepaid Internet Bundles.
- 25 MB @ Kes. 100.00
- 70 MB @ Kes. 250.00
- 150 MB @ Kes. 500.00
- 500 MB @ Kes. 1,250.00
- 1 GB @ Kes. 1,750
In addition to the above bundle rates, the pay as you go Internet usage rate is Kes. 7.00 per megabyte. Finally, the modem cost is still Kes. 2,010.00 as announced late last year and comes with 150 MB of data free usage.
What a week its been! Kenya and the world have been flooded by the Makmende phenomenon. The first Kenyan super hero as seen in the “ha-he” music video by Kenyan boy band “Just A Band”. Makmende has taken on a life of his own, quite literally. People all over the web are buzzing about Makmende including the Wall Street Journal. He has almost 20,000 fans on his Facebook page and so far almost 600 twitter followers (although Makmende follows no one!).
What I find even more interesting is that digital artists have gone to work and started making user generated images that depict Makmende in all sorts of funny and interesting “super hero” situations. Take for instance the one where he is re-worked as Leonidas leading his 300 Spartans from the movie of the same name or the iconic Obama “Hope” image re-worked with Makmende’s likeness and, not to mention, the GQ and Esquire Magazine front covers. It really is a huge and notable Makmende movement out there that Kenya and the world have taken to with so much gusto.
So, here is the next big question. Makmende has obviously become a fad and may even go so much further to become a venerable Kenyan entertainment brand. But, who exactly “owns” brand Makmende? I can already hear the printing machines going off this weekend and t-shirts as well as other Makmende merchandise hitting the streets of Nairobi by next week – this is going to happen for sure! (that’s if it hasn’t happened already). Meanwhile, Just A Band, who created brand Makmende may not see a cent from their creation if they do not secure copyrights right away (I certainly hope they have already started!). Most importantly, they should have at least signed some sort of agreement with the character who plays Makmende in their video to have exclusive rights.
Going forward, seeing that Makmende has pioneered the concept of internet viral marketing in Kenya on a global scale, the next thing I would like to see is how the brand is managed and how it can be monetized to the benefit of the brand creators – Just A Band. It may already be too late but time will tell.
I see huge prospects for Kenyan brands to partner with brand Makmende in commercials and other promotional initiatives. There certainly is potential and it will be exciting to see which brave Kenyan brands ride this wave for commercial gain. Personally, I have (already) made gains from Makmende through the post I made earlier this week that saw this blog featured on the Wall Street Journal and hit almost 20,000 visits (so far) this month. Makmende is definitely delivering super hero results to all who mention him! (But don’t tell him I said that!).
Something amazing is afoot! I am not sure when it started but its certainly gone viral by the time I am writing about it. Its exciting, hilarious and even serious stuff, all at the same time. What am I talking about? Unless you’ve been offline for the better part of two weeks its Kenya’s first viral Internet sensation, and his name is Makmende! Yes. Makmende is something to smile about! He is Kenya’s first super hero and boy does he rock! He lives more or less online and a look at his web site www.makmende.com will certainly crack you up! Until last week, I had never heard of the now famous Makmende. A detailed “expose” on Makmende can be found on the popular Archer blog here> Whatever the case is, Kenya has its first viral Internet hit – the man, the super hero, Makmende! Check out this cool Makmende video below:
If you have a WIFI enabled phone or computer in Nairobi, you probably have seen at one point or another over the last few months a network called Loopnet that offers free internet access. I had planned to write here about Loopnet over a month ago but they had not yet officially “launched” at the time (in fact, they don’t seem to have a web site yet although they are advertising in a certain supermarket chain). Loopnet is apparently being “powered” by Kenya Data Networks (KDN) from what I have heard.
I have used Loopnet on one occasion on Mombasa road but in most other locations in Nairobi it does not seem to work (strange?). However, when it does, its actually free internet access with one caveat – you get ads displayed at the top of your web browser. I think Loopnet is an excellent idea and it represents some innovation in terms of the traditional Internet Service Provider (ISP) business models of billing for usage on either an unlimited monthly basis or on a data capped basis.
My impression is that Loopnet is just getting started and they need to extend their service to many of Nairobi’s suburbs where Internet usage is bound to be very high. I also expect the service will largely appeal to the home user and not necessarily the business user who would want a reliable and fast Internet service, all the time.
I’m keen to see how many users Loopnet will have on their service once its fully operational in most of Nairobi (and the rest of Kenya?) as this would be key to attracting advertisers to sustain their services. In addition, as it always seems to be the case, other ISPs’ in the marketplace are bound to experiment with the ad-driven model for free Internet as well – so only time will tell how it fairs. Meanwhile, enjoy free Internet on Loopnet!
Below is the “full” Kenya Digital Study key findings summary on Internet usage that was presented a week ago to Media, Marketing and ICT Professionals by the ICT Board and TNS Research International. It was uploaded to the Kenya ICT Board web site just a couple of days ago:
Digital Kenya Key Findings March 2010
View more presentations from kemibaro.
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