Safaricom 5G is finally here; expect browsing speeds that are up to 10x faster than 4G

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Safaricom plans to officially debut 5G coverage in Kenya starting tomorrow (March 26^th).

The launch of the 5G service came off as a bit of a surprise considering contrary reports that appeared at the beginning of the year that pointed to the telco firm putting its 5G plans on ice.

5G internet is one of the biggest thing in telecommunication right now due to the immense potential that 5G internet has on completely changing your browsing experience.

5G internet will improve the browsing experience significantly with Qualcomm tests showing that the tech is 500% faster in download when compared to 4G LTE.

True to this, Safaricom plans to roll out the 5G service in phases starting with the regions with the highest network load. Nairobi and regions in western Kenya such as Kisumu and Kisii will be among the first parts of the country to receive the 5G signal.

So what does this mean to you?

For starters, for you to access the 5G signal, you need to have a 5G enabled smartphone. Currently, there are very few budget 5G smartphones. A quick check on Jumia shows that the One Plus Nord N10 5G is currently the most affordable one, and it goes for around Ksh. 32,000.

However, this is a temporary problem and Transsion (maker of Tecno, Infinix and itel devices) and other vendors are likely to sweep right in and fill the demand for budget 5G smartphones.

The other issue is to do with either you will need a new SIM card to access the service. This is still not clear but info in the rumor mill points to you being able to access 5G connectivity with your current SIM card.

The last one is to do with the bundles. With great speeds come great responsibility and therefore most likely the current 4G bundles won’t be able to handle 5G speeds. Safaricom is, therefore, probably likely to unveil custom data packages that will be appropriate for the 5G network.

All in all, it’s great news that 5G is coming to this part of the world considering that the tech is by all standing is still in its nascent stages even in developed economies and it’s therefore great that it’s finally here.