John Kariuki
27 July 2008
Nairobi — Access Kenya has introduced a new Internet product that caters for a variety of social, education and recreation needs.
Dubbed Access@home, the services is being marketed to domestic users as a new addition to the company's already existing product for corporate clients.
"This is a lifestyle product that will also prove invaluable for those doing online learning, e-commerce, shopping or watching movies or sports at home," says Jonathan Somen, group managing director of Access Kenya.
The new product was developed following months of research on the emerging requirements of people in the middle and upper-income groups, which all pointed to the need for a better Internet connectivity.
Mr Somen said the main concern was high-speed connectivity that was reliable and did not fluctuate due to rising numbers logged on at a specific time.
Ordinarily, logging on at most existing services takes several minutes, depending on the time of day and location.
In Nairobi, for example, Fridays are particularly bad, as connection failure is a common problem.
The company went shopping for the appropriate equipment and concept and settled for the Alvarion Wimax, which has posted an impressive track record at Namibia Telkom, South Africa Telkom and MTN Uganda.
Mr Somen said the system offers good connectivity at less than a second per page, enabling users to do much more on the net than is possible with slower systems.
"The speed is constant, affording users convenience of Internet connection at all times " he added.
The company is deploying 35 base stations in Nairobi and Mombasa, making Wimax the largest network in the two cities in Kenya as part of a grand strategy to develop the biggest broadband in the country.
It is investing $3.5 million for the project, expected to roll out within a month.
The focus of the Home Internet service will be residential areas in Nairobi and Mombasa, where the highest concentration of Internet users is found, and will then look at other major urban centres.
"With the guaranteed high speed connection, users will be able to reach entertainment sites such as e-Bay more easily to buy books or music, watch films, catch up with the latest news and other activities," said Mr Somen.
It will also be a vital asset for professionals undertaking online studies, with the high speed guaranteeing more reliable use of Internet to do research, he said.
The increased use of credit cards in Kenya and the launch of money transfers systems like M-Pesa and the accessibility of PayPal international money transfers is a major advantage to online users. This is catered for in the launch of the new service.
"I foresee a greater subscription for online usage here than in the West, where it is seen as an alternative as opposed to in Kenya, where it serves a real need," said Mr Somen.
The growth of Internet awareness across Kenya is also a factor.
The increase in the number of cyber cafes in the main urban centres, the emerging concept of cyber villages -- to provide Internet service in the rural areas all demand more reliable high-speed connectivity.
Mr Somen notes that for many professionals who stay on in their offices late to complete their assignments for the day, the new system will offer connection to office networks allowing them to log on to their workplace system from home.
It also allows wireless connectivity that is configured to the Access Kenya network, which offers greater choices on a desired work or leisure location.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The East African. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
