Kenya insists on 700MHz for shared LTE network

Kenya’s Safaricom has threatened to withdraw from plans to build a shared LTE network for all three of the country’s mobile networks if the government insists that it operate in the 2.6GHz spectrum band.

Safaricom wants the network to be built using the 700MHz spectrum band as it requires far fewer base stations, especially in rural areas, and is hence cheaper to deploy, at least initially.

"We would want to know the frequency band that will be used; if it is not 700MHz then they (government) may consider Safaricom out of it," Nzioka Waita, Safaricom’s corporate affairs director told Business Daily Africa.

The government has been pushing for the networks to cooperate on a single shared network infrastructure as it says there will be cost saving for consumers if the operators do not build competing systems.