A new report published in Kenya by the International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed that the overall number of Internet users in the East African country has risen to 17.38 million. This is a dramatic rise from less than 10 million in 2011, said the Julisha ICT survey.
According to the study, mobile phones have also seen a massive rise in ICT expansion and overall Internet usage is on the upsurge.
“The market is slowly shifting to services with the necessary infrastructure in place,” the survey reported.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication Bitange Ndemo said the government “expects there will be increased investment in start-ups and by vendors, with investors likely to rush to serve devolved governments that come into place later this year.”
He also said that he expects further developments in the 4G-shared network infrastructure throughout this year.
The report surprisingly placed Kenya ahead of South Africa and Nigeria in overall Internet usage, “although behind continental heavyweights such as Egypt.”
It stated that the main uses of the Internet remain “searching for information at 75 percent, communication at 64 percent and downloading content at 59 percent.”
* Computer image via Shutterstock
Mohammed Awad
