Safaricom Goes Even Bigger With Their Fixed Wireless Connectivity in Kenya
Safaricom Fixed Wireless: Remember when Safaricom rolled out home fibre back in 2014? Although the telco was late to the party, the service has grown to be one of its biggest offerings connecting thousands of homes across the country.
Safaricom’s Home Fibre service is available in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Thika, Bungoma, Kitale, Nyeri and Nanyuki among other towns. The firm has set a goal of connecting one million Kenyan households to full-fibre links as part of a planned ramp-up of its wireline business. Question is, what happens to customers who are not in fibre-ready zones and still want to enjoy a home fibre experience?
To cater for these customers, Safaricom introduced Fixed Wireless connectivity which has actually been available for a while now. Important to note that Safaricom’s 4G network coverage is at 95% and being in a 4G coverage area does not necessarily mean your area is fibre-ready.
The Fixed Wireless connectivity required customers to be in a 4G coverage area, and purchase a 4G router and 4G sim card retailing at Kshs 9,999 from any Safaricom shop or an authorized dealer. The packages offered by Safaricom when the service went live included 4G For Home 3 Mbps for Ksh. 3,699, 4G For Home 5 Mbps for Ksh.5,299, Fixed LTE 3 Mbps for Ksh.3,699 and Fixed LTE 5 Mbps for Ksh. 5,799.
New Changes
Safaricom made some changes to the Fixed Wireless connectivity product in March this year to satisfy customers’ needs and wants. The customer is always looking for options and a variety of packages to choose from these new consumer demands are what Safaricom tried to address.
It introduced changes to the Fixed LTE (Business) and 4G For Home products now known as 4G Wi-Fi. The changes include a shift from speed-based to volume-based packages in the current and new products, respectively. Safaricom has lowered the volumes of the new product to make them more profitable. It has also removed guaranteed minimum speeds (Guaranteed Bit Rate) for the new packages.
Safaricom has also simplified the 4G/Fixed LTE proposition across homes and businesses. What this means is that customers now have a wide range of affordable Wi-Fi packages to choose from.
The new wireless access product offering now are:
| 4G Wi-Fi Packages | Volume (GB) | Speeds (Max Bit Rate) | Guaranteed Bit Rate | Fair Usage Policy | Price (KES) |
| 90 | 5 mbs | N/A | N/A | 2,999 | |
| 120 | 5 mbs | N/A | N/A | 4,100 | |
| 200 | 5 mbs | N/A | N/A | 6,999 | |
| 400 | 5 mbs | N/A | N/A | 12,499 |
How to Sign up for Safaricom Fixed Wireless Connectivity
Customers must be in a 4G-ready area to sign up for Safaricom Fixed Wireless Connectivity. Safaricom already has a wide 4G network coverage so that’s a plus. You also need to purchase a 4G Adrian router retailing at Kshs 9,999 or a Huawei router retailing at Ksh 10,999 which will come with a designated 4G SIM Card which will be registered using the details of the customer purchasing the router.
Important to also note that the router is portable and customers can carry it wherever they go since it’s just plug-and-play. As the name suggests, you simply plug the cable in at either end, dramatically reducing the time and skills required
Customers can purchase the router at any Safaricom retail shop or Safaricom authorized dealer. They can also Go to MySafaricom App or Dial *400*49# and follow the prompts. They will then be contacted by a sales agent and the router will be delivered to their homes.
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