Airtel said it has launched its 5G offering in over 370 sites across the country

Kenyan operator Airtel announced the launch of commercial 5G services in the African nation.

With this launch, Airtel has become the second operator to launch 5G in Kenya, after Safaricom.

Airtel said it has launched its 5G offering in over 370 sites across the country, in cities including Mombasa, Nakuru, Nairobi, Athi River, Kisumu, Kakamega, Siaya, Eldoret and Bungoma.

The telco said its 5G network will be concentrated in specific zones, including highly populated residential areas, malls, hospitals and central business districts.

“Airtel 5G will revolutionize various sectors, such as smart cities, education, healthcare, agri-tech, transport systems, entertainment and more, shaping the future of Kenya,” said Ashish Malhotra, the managing director of Airtel Kenya.

Airtel Kenya is a subsidiary of Indian telecom group Bharti Airtel, and has been operating in Kenya since 2010. The carrier currently serves over 16.2 million customers in Kenya.

Rival operator Safaricom had initially launched 5G services in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii, Kakamega and Mombasa in October last year.

Last month, Airtel also launched its 5G services in Nigeria. The 5G service is available in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt in an initial phase, with plans to expand to other Nigerian cities in the near future.

The telco said that those customers can use a 5G-compatible router to access fixed services, or a 5G-ready handset or tablet to access mobile services.

In December 2022, Airtel secured 100 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band, as it had been the sole bidder in the auction carried out by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The following month, the African telco secured a further 2×10 megahertz in the 2.6 GHz band.

Airtel has planned to use the frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band to deploy its 5G services, while the spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band will be utilized to boost the telco’s network capacity. 

Additionally, Airtel Nigeria recently renewed its 2×10 megahertz 2.1 GHz spectrum license. Earlier this year, Airtel Nigeria also introduced Voice Over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) services in the country.

Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal said that Airtel will invest $700 million annually in Nigeria in the next three to four years amid the roll out of 5G in the country. Bharti Enterprises is the parent company of Airtel.

In Africa, Airtel operates in several countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Chad, Gabon, Madagascar and the Republic of Congo.