[December 02, 2009] Wananchi Lowers Internet Prices With Eyes on SMEs Tweet Dec 02, 2009 (Business Daily/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Multimedia company, Wananchi Group, moved to slash the cost of its internet offering by half, saying it was keen to cash in on its investment in fibre optic technology as it passed on savings to its customers. Even as it lowered prices, the company announced that it was launching a new data product dubbed Zuku Biz that will target the small business segment, becoming the latest in a string of ICT companies who have realigned their offerings to suit the growing SME sector. "We want to distribute the huge amounts of bandwidth that we have at this moment. Our strategic investment in fibre is paying off as our Internet customers on our product will now enjoy cheaper pricing as a result of the arrival. At the same time, we are now able to broaden our product offering by starting Zuku Biz, which is designed to cater to the needs of our commercial clients," said Suhayl Esmailjee, Wananchi chief operating officer. The company said its price cut on products offered on its Wimax platform were an attempt to reduce the entry barrier for new Internet consumers, and formed the first part of a strategy geared at diversifying its business. The development has seen the firm drop its price for its entry level product, a 256kbps connection from Sh2,999 to Sh1,499, while the cost of its most expensive connection on a 1Mbps connection has dropped from Sh9,999 to Sh4,499. "While we have reduced the price for our internet options, we have maintained the speeds which are still within the competitive range in comparison to other companies," said Mr Esmailjee. Internet firms have been caught in the crosshairs of vigorous debate over the price of Internet connectivity in the country. Consumers widely anticipated that the cost of communication would drop significantly once the country switched from the more expensive satellite connectivity to fibre links, the first of which arrived in the country in June. But while some players have increased the amount of bandwidth their customers can access on their networks, few have implemented price reductions. Analysts attribute this to the fact that many companies are yet to transfer all of their capacity to fibre links, and still rely on satellite for back-up, which is among the factors that have kept pricing high. However, it is expected that most will have fully shifted to fibre by the end of next year. Wananchi joins a group of technology companies that have re-engineered their product offering to capture a share of the lucrative SME and home market, with some of the more recent entrants being Safaricom, Telkom Kenya as well as more established players such as Access Kenya. Wananchi said it was on track to complete a fibre optic network within Nairobi that will provide triple play services -- a combination of voice, internet and television services linked to homes using a single cable -- by April next year. This will see the company roll out a high capacity fibre network to deliver connectivity to a target 200 buildings within the CBD and over 100,000 homes in urban areas around the country. To achieve its goal, the company will rely on a Sh2 billion war-chest that it has built up over the last few years to place an extensive 2,000km countrywide fibre network that it will use to offer services on Zuku. Zuku is a triple play service that offers a bouquet including pay television, broadband Internet, and voice under a single brand, and hopes to become one of the region's major players in the corporate connectivity market through SimbaNet operating in Kenya and Tanzania. Wananchi's corporate division, SimbaNet, is a leading provider of VSAT services to major corporations, governments and NGOs in Kenya and Tanzania. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]