More Kenyans struggle to buy phones for Internet access

More Kenyans have cited the high costs of smart gadgets such as phones and tablets as a key hindrance to accessing mobile Internet services.

Fresh data by the international association for mobile network operators GSMA shows that the number of Kenyans mentioning the high cost of smart gadgets as the key barrier to mobile Internet usage rose to 51 percent and 52 percent in the urban and rural areas, respectively last year, up from 48 percent and 35 percent in the two respective demographics the previous year.

This underscores the growing struggle by citizens to retain surplus finances to purchase what are largely seen as luxurious items amid hard economic times.

In an attempt to address the issue of costly gadgets, President William Ruto last year unveiled a local smartphone assembly plant whose products were poised to retail at consumer-friendly prices of between Sh7,499 and Sh8,999.

According to the report, other notable factors hindering the uptake of the Internet include illiteracy in Kenya’s rural areas, data costs as well as the low battery life of most Internet-enabled gadgets.

For those already on boarded, a huge chunk (93 percent) uses the Internet for instant messaging, followed by those who watch free-to-access online video at 81 percent while those who make or receive calls online and those using the Internet to manage and pay bills tallied at 76 percent.

Other major Internet uses included making or receiving video calls (71 percent), getting information about products and services (70 percent), reading news (64 percent), listening to free online music (64 percent) as well as playing free games (60 percent).

The least Internet use case during the period was in seeking access to health services which took up 29 percent, while access to government services and online purchases of goods and services accounted for 33 percent and 36 percent respectively.

As of January this year, there were 22.7 million Internet users in Kenya while the Internet penetration rate stood at 40.8 percent of the country’s total population.

Kenyans abandoned the active use of 628,818 feature phones during the three months to March this year in a shift that has accelerated the usage of smartphones whose uptake grew by 886,884 during the period, fresh data shows.

The latest quarterly data by the Communications Authority of Kenya indicates that as of the close of March, the number of feature phones in active use stood at 31.2 million, down from 31.8 million as of last December translating to a two percent dip.

Smartphone possession, on the other hand, grew to 34.5 million by March up from the 33.6 million recorded at the close of last year, representing a 2.6 percent surge and reflecting a growing appetite for modern gadgets that offer a wider array of functions such as Internet connectivity.