Wananchi’s SimbaNet unveils new services for SMEs

Corporate News

Technicians install a fibre optic cable on an electricity pole for Wananchi Group in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE |   NATION MEDIA GROUP

By OKUTTAH MARK, mokuttah@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• SimbaNet has now enhanced its services to include web hosting, domain name registration, basic TV, Internet protocol telephony, security management and cloud disaster recovery tailored for the SMEs.
• SimbaNet chief operations officer Tony Wood said the decision to bundle the services and double the speeds was informed by feedback from their clients and the changing telecoms environment.

Wananchi Group’s subsidiary SimbaNet has added voice and TV services to its fibre-based Internet offering in a move aimed at growing its market share among small and medium-sized firms (SMEs).

The company said it had previously targeted large firms with fibre optic connections.

SimbaNet has now enhanced its services to include web hosting, domain name registration, basic TV, Internet protocol telephony, security management and cloud disaster recovery tailored for the SMEs.

Small businesses signing up for the bundled services will have three options to choose from based on the capacity of Internet connectivity they buy.

Those who sign up for 8Mbps (megabits per second) will pay Sh10,000 a month and get 100 global voice minutes.

SimbaNet is charging Sh18,000 for 16Mbps that comes with 200 global voice minutes, a Wi-Fi router and 50GB free cloud data back-up solution.

Firms opting for the 32Mbps are charged Sh25,000 that includes 300 global voice minutes and 100GB cloud data back-up, the company said.

Large corporates previously paid the same amount for half the capacities that did not include the other value added services such as global voice calls and cloud data back-up.

SimbaNet chief operations officer Tony Wood said the decision to bundle the services and double the speeds was informed by feedback from their clients and the changing telecoms environment.

“The packages are flexible and support the SMEs as their business grow. Bundling of the services and other values adds makes them save operational costs, allowing them to concentrate on their core businesses and maximise their income earnings,” said Mr Wood at a media briefing in Nairobi Tuesday.

The competition in the data market segment is growing stiffer with the entry of mobile telcos into fixed Internet connectivity that was previously a preserve of Internet service providers and some telecoms infrastructure providers.

The latest statistics from Communications Authority of Kenya indicate that mobile Internet connections account for more than 98 per cent of the 16.4 million total Internet subscriptions.