Business Daily

Safaricom Kenya and Bharti Airtel are set to form an agreement that will enable the two giants to lay a fiber network. The move is designed to cut costs associated with the involvement of third parties whom they rely on for their internet.

Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, told the Business Daily that the company initiated talks with other mobile operators including Telkom Kenya and Essar, but only Airtel took up the bid. About the fiber he added: “We are going to roll out the fibre in the coming financial year; it will involve partnering with other mobile operators.”

Mobile handset manufacturer Nokia will establish a regional research and development centre in Nairobi in an effort to capture the growing number Kenya's software developers to cultivate applications for its African market.Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop said in Nairobi last week that the mobile telephony giant intends to use the local talent to develop mobile applications to rejuvenate its falling handset sales.

Electronic readers are transforming the way people enjoy their books. However, there is very little African published content on the online stores. For a reader looking for a Kenyan book or literature published in Africa, one has to get the ink-and-paper version as few publishers have moved online.

Four in five new cell phone subscribers are signing up for money transfer services, the latest industry data shows.

The new statistics indicate that the handset has become a key tool for financial inclusion.

The Communications Commission of Kenya attributed the preference for mobile money transfer platforms to the ease of enlisting for the service.

The TEAMS submarine cable, which runs from the Kenyan coast to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, carries a significant proportion of Safaricom's internet and international voice traffic.

It was the first sub-marine cable system to land on the Kenyan coast, connecting the country to the rest of the world through a high-bandwidth connection. Safaricom is a major buyer of capacity on TEAMS, besides being an anchor shareholder in the landmark public-private venture.

LG Electronics last Thursday introduced a high-end smart phone targeting Kenya's growing middle class in a bid to get a foothold in a market segment dominated by iPhone and Blackberry brands.

Two Chinese telecommunication firms and four local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have stayed out of the government's second call for the 4G tender, ceding control to Kenya's four mobile operators and a number of Western firms.

The fourth generation (4G) is a wireless technology with a larger capacity to deliver data and facilitate high-end services such as video conferencing and gaming.

Many local firms have failed to get their strategies right in creating brand visibility and loyalty through social media, the latest industry survey has shown.

However, many companies have invested heavily on Internet platforms with an aim of tapping the growing online audience.

According to the TNS Digital Life Survey, 60 per cent of Kenyans on social media are resistant to brands and brand messages in their profiles, meaning that companies may not be getting returns on the investments they have made to reach the online community through the networks.

Mobile phone service provider Essar Telkom has agreed to pay Kenya Data Networks (KDN) Sh25 million upfront and Sh6.2 million in equal monthly instalments to settle a dispute involving Sh133 million.

The parties recorded the consent in the Nairobi High Court where Essar owners of the Yu mobile brand, also agreed to pay KDN Sh6.2 million a month until an arbitrator concludes the dispute. However, failure by Essar to settle Sh24,948,900 within 14 days, the agreement would automatically lapse.