Telkom Kenya Falls Below Regulatory Threshold in Annual Network Quality Assessment
The operator scored just 52.76% against a compliance minimum of 80%, meeting quality targets in none of Kenya's five regions.
Telkom Kenya has failed to meet the Communications Authority’s minimum quality-of-service standards in the regulator’s annual network assessment for the 2024–2025 financial year. The operator recorded a score of nearly 30 percentage points below the compliance threshold.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), which evaluates mobile network operators annually across technical performance, end-to-end network testing and customer satisfaction surveys, gave Telkom an overall QoS score of 52.76%, well short of the 80% minimum required under the regulator’s framework. By comparison, Safaricom scored 89.72% and Airtel Kenya 81.14%, both clearing the threshold comfortably.
The assessment paints a difficult picture across every measured category. Telkom’s end-to-end drive test score, which measures core network quality in real-world conditions, came in at 47.94%, the only result below 50% recorded by any operator. Its technical network performance score stood at 60%, compared to perfect scores of 100% from both Safaricom and Airtel. On customer satisfaction, Telkom scored 60%, the lowest in the market.
Perhaps most telling is the regional picture. The CA evaluates performance across five regional clusters covering the country. Safaricom met targets in all five. Airtel met targets in two. Telkom met targets in none.
The result places Telkom in breach of the CA’s regulatory standards, a designation that can trigger scrutiny and potential enforcement action from the Authority. The CA has a consumer protection mandate to ensure operators deliver a minimum standard of service to subscribers, and persistent non-compliance leaves the regulator with limited options beyond intervention.
Telkom’s result arrives against a backdrop that is already challenging for the sector. The CA’s report notes a four-year decline in overall industry performance, driven by surging data demand and mounting pressure on network infrastructure. But while that trend has affected all three operators to varying degrees, Telkom’s figures suggest a gap that goes beyond industry-wide headwinds.
The operator has had a turbulent few years, navigating ownership changes, a failed merger attempt with Airtel Kenya, and the challenge of competing for enterprise and consumer customers against rivals with significantly larger infrastructure footprints. Its network quality scores suggest those structural pressures are now showing up in the metrics that matter most to subscribers and regulators alike.
The CA has not publicly detailed what remedial action, if any, it intends to pursue following the findings. Telkom Kenya has also not issued a public response to the assessment results.
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