Airtel Re-affirms Commitment to Kenya with Ksh 19 billion Investment Plan

Airtel Kenya has today reaffirmed its commitment to Kenya with the announcement of an ambitious investment program totaling Kshs.19 billion over the next 3 years. The investment ensures that the Company delivers on its stated commitment to offer the most reliable and best quality network, products and services in the market.

The Company announced that its renewed commitment to Kenya will cover a variety of investments in various programs designed to enrich the quality of service and experience for its Customers.

The investment plan will cover network upgrades for its voice and data services, shops, and brand equity development, customer service quality improvement staff training programs and community development programs across the country.

Phase one of its network upgrade program under the renewed investment program and completed in Mombasa, Nairobi and Kitale involves a comprehensive change of legacy hardware and expansion of radio network elements resulting in significant improvement of network signals and voice quality for Airtel customers.

Phase two of the upgrade currently underway will improve data speeds and offer a stable and faster internet service. This upgrade exercise, under which Nokia Networks, one of the world’s leading specialists in mobile broadband is deploying the latest wireless technologies, will enhance Airtel’s network capacity, robustness and help deliver best-in-class experience that include stronger and faster data speeds.

The company has also announced that it will embark on a major rollout of new sites in Nairobi area, which will help in ensuring that customers remain connected to a stronger network both outdoor and indoor from any part of the County. The company will continue with the upgrade exercise in other major towns in the country allowing customers to enjoy better network quality and internet experience, making it 4G LTE ready at the end 2015.

The Company will roll-out of 23 new shops across the country including newly opened ones in and Kisumu, Embu and planned ones in Nakuru, Kericho, Machakos, Kisii, Nanyuki, Naivasha, Meru, Bungoma, Thika, Mombasa and Nairobi. The new outlets will enable Airtel better serve its customers in Kenya through a variety of products and service offerings ranging from modems, latest handsets and data devices at attractive prices to end-to-end service support for Airtel Money, Post-paid & Prepaid services, Airtel data settings, bill payments and airtime.

Its new brand campaign dubbed “It’s Now” recently launched in partnership with the Ivory Coast captain and Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure seeks to nurture and grow talent in Africa through various consumer touch points such as sports, lifestyle and music while providing customers with access to connectivity and technological solutions that will enable them explore opportunities around them.

The campaign reiterates the company’s commitment to support the youth in Africa as well as drive economic growth by unlocking people’s potential including that of its employees. It is the epitome of inspiration to everyone working to achieve their potential and striving to be their best every day.

A statement from the Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi explained that Airtel’s journey in Kenya has been a fascinating and exciting and exciting one, adding that “Airtel, an ambitious front-runner in the technology industry has helped millions of Kenyans plug into the local and global community. We push the boundaries of technology, constantly innovating, and drawing on our entrepreneurial spirit to provide our customers a window to the world”.

While Airtel has always been brave, it has always competed in the market in the right way and maintained highest standards of ethics and transparency. Whatever the challenge, we have always made sure that the customer comes first and our actions benefit the communities in Kenya. This is something we are really proud of.

Part of the investment will be dedicated to the Company’s flagship community development program, “The Airtel Internet for Schools” that has so far connected over 250,000 students in over 130 schools in the country to free internet, ensuring access and use learning materials and content online to augment their knowledge and potential for personal success.

Airtel’s mobile network operations in Kenya covers over 90% of the country offering  superior voice, data and mobile commerce services on its 2G and world-class 3.75G network to more than 6 million customers across all the 47 counties. Its distribution channel with over 120 distributors, 12 customer service shops.

Airtel currently has the widest 3G footprint in Africa, with all the 17 countries that Airtel operates connected to 3G services and a unique One-Network service that offers seamless connectivity, convenience and affordability to its customers travelling across Africa without having to change their SIM cards.