Kenya’s 2G and 3G networks on the road to phase‑out as 4G becomes dominant

Kenya’s mobile market is already moving away from 2G and 3G, with 2G subscriptions down 27.3% year‑on‑year to about 9.3 million and 3G down 39.2% to roughly 4.5 million by June 2026.

During the same period, 4G subscriptions rose to about 48.3 million and 5G connections reached roughly 2.1 million, reflecting rapid adoption of newer technologies.

Total mobile data subscriptions climbed to 64.26 million, a 9.7% increase from the previous year, with mobile broadband accounting for 85.5% of all connections.

Data consumption patterns show rising usage on 4G and 5G while 3G traffic continues to decline, underscoring the shift in how customers use the networks.

Average monthly data use on 5G was 64.4 GB per user in the quarter to June, compared with 15.8 GB on 4G and 8.3 GB on 3G, highlighting the high‑capacity role of 5G.

Voice traffic remains strong, with 126.7 billion minutes of domestic mobile voice recorded in the 2025/26 financial year, up 13.6% from the prior year.

SMS volume fell slightly to 57.1 billion messages, a decline attributed partly to over‑the‑top messaging services such as WhatsApp.

Smartphone connections now exceed 52 million, representing about 65.6% of the connected mobile‑phone base, while feature‑phone connections have dropped to 27.42 million.

Machine‑to‑machine (M2M) SIM subscriptions rose 24.1% year‑on‑year to 2.22 million, indicating growing IoT usage that also depends on network generation.

The GSMA and Partnership for Digital Access in Africa roadmap lists Kenya among 11 African markets targeted for accelerated migration from legacy networks as part of a continent‑wide goal to connect one billion people by 2030.

While the roadmap does not constitute a regulatory order, the Communications Authority’s statistics suggest the market is already on a trajectory that could lead to a future national shutdown of 2G and 3G.

Any eventual phase‑out will need to address users who cannot yet afford 4G‑compatible smartphones, businesses with legacy equipment, and M2M devices that rely on older radio technologies.