Kenya’s telecommunication industry regulator on Monday said it would roll out 5G network on a pilot basis in 2022.

Matano Ndaro, Director of Licensing, Compliance and Standards at the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), told journalists in Nairobi that the regulator had developed a roadmap that outlined strategies to facilitate deployment of 5G technology.

“We are now set to hold a validation workshop in the next one month to discuss comments received.

“Once we adopt the input from stakeholders, we shall establish a national 5G forum and allocate pilot frequencies,’’ Mr Ndaro said when Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo, launched its 5G-enabled device in the Kenyan market.

Mr Ndaro said the east African nation would begin to authorise the first 5G pilot projects in 2022 and thereafter release the requisite frequency bands, and later issue 5G commercial licences.

He added that Kenya’s telecom operators had begun the process of deploying 5G infrastructure across the country.

The communications regulator will facilitate deployment of the technology, enabling the country to derive maximum benefits from the new frontier, according to Mr Ndaro.

He added that deployment of 5G, which would offer extremely fast download and upload speeds, presented a myriad of opportunities for all sectors of the economy.

According to the CA, 3G/4G now covers 96.3 per cent of the country’s population and 56.3 per cent of the Kenyan landmass.

(dpa/NAN)