Kenya's ICT PS says 2 million homes and businesses connected to fixed broadband since 2022

Kenya has connected 2 million homes and businesses to fixed broadband since 2022, John Tanui, the Principal Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy, said at a digital sensitisation forum at Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet County, the official Kenya News Agency (KNA) reported on 18 October 2026.

Tanui said 10,000 junior secondary schools have been equipped with smart interactive devices. The government's target is to supply all 21,000 junior secondary schools by April 2027, and he said it was on track.

He also said a 17,000-kilometre fibre project is under way that will link all public institutions, down to schools and chiefs' offices. The Communications Authority (CA), the ICT Authority (ICTA) and Kenya Power are partners in the project.

Tanui said connecting public institutions would give private companies a base from which to extend the network. "From these hubs, local service providers can pick up the network to link businesses and homes directly," he said.

He said the government has put KSh 13 billion into supporting private companies that build backbone, middle-mile and cross-border infrastructure, which will add another 27,000 kilometres of fibre across the country.

Kenya had 2,838,656 fixed internet subscriptions at the end of June 2026, up 6.9% from the end of March and 32.4% from a year earlier, the CA's sector statistics report for April to June shows. Fibre was the largest technology, with 1,566,815 subscriptions, or 55.2% of the total.

Safaricom had 1,024,950 fixed internet subscriptions at the end of June, a 36.1% share, the report shows. The Kenyan news site Capital FM reported on 21 September, citing the CA, that Safaricom added 289,201 subscriptions in the year to 30 June, while Starlink rose from 17,425 to 27,616.

The government began distributing devices to junior secondary schools in June. The Kenyan news site Citizen Digital reported on 10 June 2026 that the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project (KDEAP) had flagged off the distribution of teacher laptops and 65-inch interactive smart boards at the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA) in Nairobi, and that 10,380 schools were set to receive them.

At the KMTC forum, Tanui urged young people to embrace discipline and professionalism to claim their share of the global digital economy. He put the global digital creation market at US$500 billion, Africa's share at US$3 billion and Kenya's local market at US$1 billion.

"This vast ecosystem spans across photography, animation, gaming, and brand ambassadorship among others," he said. He warned that many young people have permanently lost their accounts on global platforms such as Meta and TikTok for failing to adhere to platform policies. He said major companies have marketing budgets that creators can win a share of through corporate branding and awareness programmes.

In a statement dated 17 October, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy described The Creator Journey in Iten, a gathering of young digital creators from across the North Rift hosted with the Elgeyo Marakwet County Government and Make It Count Digital under the theme "Create. Learn. Earn."

"A creator in Iten should be able to earn from the same platforms as a creator in Nairobi, and that depends on connectivity reaching rural Kenya," the ministry quoted Tanui as saying. A session called the Wayleave Conversation brought together government agencies, regulators, mobile network operators and digital platforms to discuss coordinated approvals and infrastructure sharing to extend quality networks to underserved areas.

Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich said many content creators in the county were yet to earn an income from their work. He said the county government will waive all charges for companies laying fibre cables.