Safaricom Plc, a dominant player in the telecoms and fintech space, has become the first Kenyan Internet Service Provider(ISP) to have over a million subscriber. Available data shows that Safaricom internet subscribers reached 1.025 million in June 2026 and lifting its market share to 36.1%.

Internet Subscriptions rose 8.9% in June from 941,501 in March 2026 and 39.3% in June from 735,749 in June last year.

Available figures indicate that Safaricom had just 269,397 fixed internet users in June 2021 and 40,015 in September 2017, meaning its base has grown 3.8x in five years and 25.6x since 2017. Kenya’s total fixed internet market reached 2.84million subscriptions, a yearly growth of 32.4%.

According to the latest statistical report from Communication Authority of Kenya(CA) Q4(2025-2026), covering the period between April and June 2026, Safaricom plc led with 1,024,950 fixed data subscriptions or 36.1% of the market.

It is followed by Jamii Telecommunications Ltd 541,003 or 19.1%, Wananchi Group (Kenya) Ltd 294,375 or 10.4%, Ahadi Wireless Ltd 270,586 or 9.5% market share, Poa Internet Kenya Ltd 248,601 or 8.8%, Vilcom Network Ltd 186,240 or 6.6% market share, Mawingu Networks Ltd 105,275 subscriptions or 3.7% market share, Vijiji Connect Ltd 35,861 or 1.3%, Starlink Internet Services Kenya 27,616 or 1.0%%, Dimension Data Solutions East Africa Ltd 23,280 subscriptions or 0.8% and Others 80,869 or 2.8%.

Safaricom also dominates other market segments

As at the end of June 2026, Safaricom Plc also recorded the highest market shares in mobile subscriptions (69.8%), mobile broadband subscriptions (64.4%) and mobile money transfer (88.8%). On the other hand, Safaricom’s parents Telkom Kenya recorded the least market shares across the three service categories.

The CA Report concludes that during the fourth quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year, the ICT sector continued to contribute to the development of Kenya’s information society, supported by growth in mobile cellular telephone, mobile money and mobile broadband subscriptions, as well as growth in smartphone penetration.

Increase in fixed internet subscriptions further points to sustained demand for digital connectivity and services across the country.

Consumers steady shift towards internet-based communication and digital content, including over-the-top and video-on-demand services, is expected to drive demand for broadband connectivity and active bandwidth capacity.

Interestingly, while total domestic voice traffic increased by 13.6 per cent to 126.7 billion minutes during the period under review, from 111.6 billion minutes recorded last financial year, SMS traffic declined by 0.3 per cent to 57.1 billion messages.

The decline in SMS is mainly attributed to increased uptake of over-the-top messaging services such as WhatsApp.

The CA report also notes that Fixed internet services in Kenya is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by intense competition, a shifting digital economy, and aggressive infrastructure roll-outs.

Available data shows that data/internet subscriptions grew by 6.9% between quarter three and four, and by 32.4% between June 25 and June 2026.

Other data/internet subscriptions which mainly comprise of radio technology grew particularly high by 471.1% mainly attributed to roll-out of radio technology by Airtel, Jamii Telecommunication and Fiberlink Ltd.

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

However, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology, which has been faced with structural collapse over the last decade, recorded a decline of 25.8% in subscriptions.

Between March and June 2026, the total number of cyber threats detected during the quarter declined by 30.0 per cent to 2.4 billion, compared with the previous quarter. However, the total number of cyber threats increased by 29.0 per cent during the 2025/2026 financial year, from 8.6 billion recorded in the preceding financial year.