Kenya’s Safaricom to launch 5G network On Friday.

Kenya’s telecommunication giant Safaricom, will on Friday launch Kenya’s first fifth-generation (5G) mobile internet services targeting major urban centres.

Safaricon on Thursday revealed that the Friday launch of the 5G technology will be supplied by Nokia Corporation and Huawei.

“Safaricom will be the first operator in East Africa to launch 5G services and will be showcasing the capabilities of the network with the aid of Huawei and Nokia’s technologies,” Safaricom said in an invite to the press.

The firm last year completed testing and trials for the upgraded network as the company seeks to capitalise on burgeoning mobile Internet use in the country.

The 5G service is a central part of its attempts to further expand its data business to counter slower growth in voice calls revenue.

The service will be available in Nairobi and greater western Kenya including Kisumu, Kisii and Bungoma, which routinely witness increased data traffic.

Safaricom subscribers who want to use the service will need to acquire new handsets that are compatible with 5G before they can enjoy the superfast Internet, which offers much faster data download and upload speeds that ultimately ease network congestion.