NAIROBI, July 3 — The government has formally put Kenya’s three mobile network operators on notice, warning that declining service quality is pushing some of them close to breaching their licensing obligations. For millions of families across the region who rely on mobile money and data services for daily life, the implications are immediate. Principal Secretary for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Stephen Isaboke summoned the chief executives of Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom Kenya for a closed-door meeting.
The agenda was clear: address rising dropped calls, outages in data services and disruptions to mobile money platforms. These are not abstract technical glitches.
For communities across Kenya, a failed mobile money transaction can mean a missed school fee payment or an inability to buy essential goods. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, PS Isaboke said the ministry and the operators agreed on the urgent need to improve quality of service. He noted that the discussions also covered Kenya’s readiness to host next year’s African Cup of Nations tournament.
User preferences have shifted, he explained, with fans now expecting networks capable of handling high traffic and enabling seamless streaming at event venues. According to sources, however, the public statement was a moderated version of what had been planned as a far tougher rebuke.
The government’s concern runs deeper than tournament logistics. When service quality slips, it denies Kenyans uninterrupted access to critical services — from healthcare payments to emergency communications. Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom’s chief executive, spoke on behalf of the industry.
He acknowledged the challenges operators face, pointing to a factor that may be closer to home than many realise: the rapid growth of high-rise buildings in major towns. These new structures, he said, are now obstructing signals and creating dead zones in urban areas that were previously well-covered. “We discussed some of the issues that the industry is facing and needs to address for us to continue to deliver the expected level of service,” Ndegwa said.
“Some of the issues is to recognise that the country is growing quickly… in urban areas, the biggest problem is high-rise buildings.” For ordinary Kenyans, the problem is tangible. A call that drops mid-conversation, a mobile money transaction that fails to process, a data connection that stalls — these are daily frustrations that the meeting was meant to tackle head-on.
The operators have acknowledged the problems, but the government is watching closely to see whether words translate into action. What it means for people across the region is straightforward: the networks that underpin modern life in Kenya must become more reliable. The government has signalled that it will hold the telcos accountable, and with the Afcon tournament on the horizon, the pressure to deliver is only growing.
For now, the ball is in the operators’ court.
