Safaricom is set to launch a new token-based Wi-Fi service in the coming weeks, aiming to make fixed internet more accessible to users who need flexible and short-term access.
The move seeks to expand broadband use beyond traditional high-income households and businesses, offering more freedom in how customers pay for internet services.
The upcoming service will provide Wi-Fi access on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis, similar to the model that has long driven mobile data usage in Kenya.
Safaricom intends to make the service available in both Kenya and Ethiopia, catering to customers who prefer temporary internet access rather than committing to a full month.
The company has not yet confirmed whether these tokenised packages will include fixed data allowances or offer unlimited access at varying speeds. Safaricom, which leads Kenya’s mobile broadband and fixed internet sectors, expects the initiative to give users more flexibility while lowering the cost of serving low-income segments.
Chief executive Peter Ndegwa highlighted that flexible pricing and identifying high-demand areas are key to growing broadband participation. He said that offering more than monthly plans could bring millions of new users online.
“Instead of having only monthly plans, you can have daily, hourly, weekly, or monthly. We believe that by changing the way we go to market, by identifying locations based on the needs of the customer,” he said in a video posted by the company on YouTube. He added: “By tiering pricing, we can deliver propositions that expand participation and that will also reduce cost to serve, to allow us reach the extra three million customers [not served by the broadband market].”
Ndegwa noted that fixed broadband is one of the fastest-growing opportunities for Safaricom in both Kenya and Ethiopia, where the company entered in 2022.
In Ethiopia, the sector remains dominated by the state-run Ethio Telecom. In Kenya, Safaricom has slightly more than 400,000 fixed broadband customers, compared to a potential market of roughly four million connections. The wider market currently serves about 1.2 million users, leaving room for an additional three million.
“This area can grow 50 percent every year for the next five years without exhausting the opportunity,” Ndegwa said.
He noted that Safaricom had previously focused on high-income neighbourhoods and premium customers, but will shift to lower-income areas later this year by adjusting pricing and distribution methods. The approach combines expanding fibre networks, using fixed wireless access with 5G, and offering more affordable devices.
Last month, Safaricom introduced a Sh800 home fibre plan designed for households with irregular incomes. According to the Communications Authority of Kenya, Safaricom maintained its lead in fixed broadband subscriptions, holding a 35.6 percent market share as of September 2025.
