Fixed internet services in the country are experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by intense competition, a shifting digital economy, and aggressive infrastructure roll-outs.

According to the fourth quarter sector report by Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the country’s data and internet subscriptions grew by 6.9% between quarter three and four, and by 32.4% between June 25 and June 2026.

CA says year-on-year, other data and internet subscriptions which mainly comprise of radio technology grew particularly high by 471.1 per cent mainly attributed to roll-out of radio technology by Airtel, Jamii Telecommunication and Fiberlink Ltd.

“The total number of subscriptions to broadcasting services stood at 1.5 million as of June 30th, 2026, representing a 1.8 per cent drop from last quarter, mainly attributed to lose of clients to IPTV subscribers
and changes in the cost of Set-Top Boxes (STBs/decoders),” CA says, attributing the dip to the rise in “global chipset costs and related component” prices.

The resulting increase in decoder acquisition costs also constrained the ability of broadcasting firms to sustain the previous level of new customer activations, consequently contributing to the decline in subscriptions recorded during the quarter.

Satellite and fibre growth

Terrestrial wireless (42.9%), satellite (54.4%), fibre optic (29.7%) and cable modem (4.2%) recorded remarkable growth as well.

However, CA reveals, Digital Subscriber Line, better known as DSL technology, which has been faced with structural collapse over the last decade, recorded a decline of 25.8% in subscriptions.

On the international front, the average available internet bandwidth decreased by 0.3% in the fourth quarter but
increased by 18.5% year-on-year.

Satellite bandwidth capacity declined by 19.1%to 0.360 Gbps in June 2026 from 0.445 Gbps in June 2025. This decline is mainly attributed to the growing migration from VSAT to LEO technology in the country. Similarly, utilized bandwidth capacity
grew by 23.9% although utilized satellite bandwidth declined by 18.2%.