Nairobi — Airtel Kenya will roll out its 5G network next month as the telco seeks to counter the growing dominance of Safaricom in the sector.

Bharti Airtel, which owns the Kenyan unit, Chairman Sunil Mittal said that the company is in the final phase of testing the network in the country before launching it.

This comes after the telco announced early this year that the service would target rich neighborhoods with 5G-enabled gadgets as well as buying power.

5G networks provide faster download, streaming, and playback speeds than 4G networks.

The race for fast internet speeds comes at a time when firms are racing against time to offer the service, whose popularity has been rising.

Only last year, Safaricom rolled out 5G networks in five counties, enabling customers to access faster internet speeds.

It unveiled the networks in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisii, Kakamega, and Kisumu.

Last week, Safaricom added 5G networks to three more counties, allowing customers to enjoy fast internet services.

Turkana, Trans Nzoia, and Narok residents can now access the 5G network.

So far, it has connected 23 counties in the country with ultra-fast internet services.

It has also added 150 5G active sites, pushing the total number to 368 countrywide.