Safaricom - 2021 Sustainable Business Report

40 SAFARICOM SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS REPORT 2021 / STANDING TOGETHER: GOING BEYOND //// OUR MATERIAL TOPICS / OUR STAKEHOLDERS / KPI SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT MONITORING AND EVALUATION The number of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) decreased year-on-year because our technology team onboarded external vendors to carry out the EIAs of the base stations which reduced our involvement. The reason for the significant increase in Environmental Audits in FY21 is that we completed a total of 1 460 special audits known as Self-Environmental Audits which we intend to undertake every three years. In addition, we completed 318 initial Environmental Audits at our new sites. 2018 2019 2020 2021 Environmental Impact Assessments 590 600 437 122 Initial Environmental Audits 458 300 513 318 Self Environmental Audits N/A N/A N/A 1 460 *2021 was the first year in which the self-audits were performed. KEEPING THE COUNTRY CONNECTED During the COVID-19 crisis, we successfully lobbied the Regulator to delay the implementation of fees related to the allocation of a new range of number prefixes to cushion subscribers from the adverse effects of increased costs in a period where households had lost income. As the majority of the Kenya workforce began working from home which caused a spike in data demand, we also successfully engaged with the Communications Authority (CA) to allocate additional spectrum. The frequency allocated was 10MHz in the 2 100 band (3G) for nine months until May 2021. We have requested an extension of the spectrum allocated as the majority of the population is continuing to work from home. To enhance our engagement with the CA, we now report on a quarterly basis to this body on Network Redundancy, Resilience and Diversity (NRRD). PILOTING 5G Our theme, ‘ Standing Together: Going Beyond ’, among other things, reflects our aim of standing together with our stakeholders to connect them to opportunities. 5G is one such opportunity. At its most basic, 5G offers much faster data download and upload speeds that ultimately ease network congestion. What’s more, 5G era networks are expected to support the massive rollout of intelligent IoT connections for a multitude of scenarios and provide an enhanced platform to support widespread adoption of critical services. 5G could, for example, enable remote patient diagnostics and monitoring; access to education; fast detection of natural disasters and smart city infrastructure, among other things. 5G will also potentially accelerate the digitisation and automation of industrial practices and processes (including supporting Fourth Industrial Revolution goals). In a key development, we re-farmed spectrum for Fixed Wireless Access service (WiMax) to offer the 5G technology to our customers. We are currently rolling out Kenya’s first fifth generation (5G) mobile internet services targeting major urban centres. We started with six pilot sites in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii and Kakamega. We moved forward into the future to trial 5G technology for our customers at these six sites with the aim of empowering them with super-fast internet at work, at home and when on the move, supplementing our growing fibre network. 5G technology can easily act as an alternative to home fibre and fibre for business services, targeting customers in places where we have yet to roll out our fibre network. Our 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. Securing statutory approval for the 5G trial sites was challenging as we were met with scepticism from certain sectors of the public who were concerned about the impact of 5G on human health, especially its link to the Coronavirus pandemic. The stalemate was addressed through training, developed by GSMA, of the concerned parties on electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and 5G. Our efforts make us the first technology company in Kenya to launch 5G technology. “I congratulate Safaricom on this milestone, reinforcing the country’s position at being at the forefront of innovation in the region and the world. 5G technology will usher increased internet speeds and capabilities for millions across the country, laying a strong foundation for a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.” The Honourable Joe Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Information and Technology