14 June 2019

Kenyan telecom firm Jamii Telecom, operator of the Faiba brand, now holds a full 4G operating licence for local service provision.

In December 2017, the business - owned by entrepreneur Joshua Chepkowony – paid KSh100,000 to acquire a one-year experimental licence for ultra-fast broadband on the 700MHz spectrum.

The decision proved to be unpopular among local rivals, who accused the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) of favouritism. They also claimed that the watchdog gave Jamii Telecom an operating licence without the usual public auction and waived the requisite KSh2.5bn spectrum fee.

When the trial license expired last year, Jamii Telecom asked the CA to extend it for another year to enable it to fully establish its operations.

The company has now acquired a full 4G license for Ksh2.5bn (approximately USD25m) and payment will be made in instalments, according to the CA.

Jamii a KSh250m deposit (for the licence which includes an annual sum of KSh11m for the spectrum frequency.

“Jamii Telecom has already paid the first instalment and they are no longer on a trial licence,” said CA director general Francis Wangusi.