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Demand for faster speeds reshapes Kenya’s internet market
A contractor installing home fibre. Kenyan households and businesses are rapidly adopting faster internet speeds, driven by rising demand for streaming, remote work, and digital services.
Kenyan households and businesses are rapidly upgrading to faster internet speeds, new data shows, signalling a decisive shift in digital consumption as demand for streaming, remote work and online services accelerates.
Latest figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) show demand is rising across both entry-level and ultra-fast broadband tiers, pointing to a widening appetite for connectivity and a shift toward high-capacity network linkages.
According to the data, connections in the 256 kilobits per second (Kbps) to below two megabits per second (Mbps) band jumped nearly fivefold from 16,578 in 2024 to 78,522 in 2025, reflecting uptake among lower-income households and small enterprises entering the digital economy.
During the same period, the number of ultra-fast connections in the one gigabit per second (Gbps) tier more than tripled from 273 to 856, pointing to growing demand among corporates, tech firms and affluent households.
Dual growth
The rise across both ends of the spectrum highlights a market expanding in depth, where basic connectivity and high-performance internet are growing simultaneously.
During the year, data consumption posted rapid growth, with utilised fixed broadband rising 84.3 percent to 5.2 billion gigabytes.
The increase in data consumption is expected to drive capital expenditure in fibre networks, data centres and spectrum acquisition as operators seek to monetise growing traffic.
The heightened demand for enhanced speeds comes at a time when data from network intelligence firm Ookla shows average mobile speeds in Kenya rose from about 21 Mbps in 2024 to 45 Mbps by the end of 2025, overtaking Nigeria for the first time.
Kenya is now ranked third in Africa behind South Africa and Morocco in overall mobile network performance.
KNBS attributes the growth to a convergence of digital activities, including video streaming, online education, remote work and e-commerce, all of which demand stable and high-speed connections.
“This increase reflects the growing need for faster and more reliable internet to support activities such as streaming, online learning, remote work and e-commerce across a wide range of users,” KNBS noted.
Usage surge
Platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and Zoom have become embedded in everyday life, increasing the need for reliable bandwidth.
The shift has been reinforced by behavioural changes that took hold during the Covid-19 pandemic and have persisted, with remote work and digital transactions now a permanent feature of the economy.
Kenya’s internet ecosystem has evolved quickly to meet rising demand, supported by investments in fibre infrastructure and expansion of 4G and 5G mobile networks.
Telecommunications firms have responded by expanding fibre networks and rolling out higher-capacity packages, with operators such as Safaricom, Jamii Telecommunications and Zuku targeting households and small businesses with bundled internet and content offerings.
The race for high-speed connectivity has intensified competition in the fixed broadband segment, traditionally dominated by a few players but now attracting new entrants seeking to tap into rising demand for data-driven services.
Future demand
High-definition video, cloud computing and digital platforms are driving heavier usage, pushing networks to upgrade capacity and improve reliability.
The rise in gigabit connections also signals an emerging market segment that could shape future investment in network infrastructure.
Businesses in sectors such as finance, technology and media are increasingly demanding ultra-fast connections to support data-intensive operations, including real-time analytics and cloud-based systems.
At the household level, demand is being fuelled by multiple-device usage, with families simultaneously streaming content, attending virtual classes and working online.
Kenya’s position as a regional technology hub has also contributed to rising demand for high-speed connectivity as startups and digital enterprises scale operations.
The growth of e-commerce platforms and digital payments has made reliable internet a critical enabler of economic activity, with government digitisation efforts further increasing reliance on connectivity.
The rapid rise in demand is, however, exposing persistent gaps in access and affordability, with high-speed internet still out of reach for many low-income households.
Infrastructure deployment outside major urban centres remains uneven, creating disparities in internet quality and availability across regions.
