2022 Sustainable Business Report

44 | SAFARICOM SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS REPORT 2022 KPI SUMMARY OUR STAKEHOLDERS OUR BUSINESS OUR MATERIAL TOPICS OUR PLATFORMS Our strong partnership ecosystem (SDG17), high levels of connectivity and technology, together with our innovative products and services (SDG9), help us to create and strengthen business opportunities (SDG8), thereby driving inclusive economic development (SDG10). IMPROVING OUR CUSTOMERS’ DATA EXPERIENCE Our networks are critical in enabling stakeholders across Kenya to connect and share information seamlessly. The roll out of 5G proved to be more challenging and complex than expected, necessitating a high level of financial investment, and involving diverse stakeholders including government, regulatory authorities, network vendors and device manufacturers. While the initiative was hampered by the significant lack of 5G devices, we continue to anticipate growing adoption by customers across all fields. Our key focus in FY22 was improving customer data and network experiences by increasing radio capacity and network coverage. This was achieved by capacity expansion, particularly in the radio network, as well as connecting sites to fibre especially in the rural areas. We upgraded a total of 1 100 and 1 000 4G and 3G sites respectively and rolled out 495 new sites. In addition, we integrated new 4G spectrum into 1 800 sites. Core capacity was increased to enable a 60% increase in data traffic, while voice-over long-term evolution (VoLTE) capacity was enhanced by 80% to cater for five million users. Densification of high-rise buildings especially in urban centres has resulted in challenges related to indoor coverage. Accordingly, we focused on improving indoor coverage particularly in densely built-up areas in Nairobi. Our efforts resulted in an improvement in network experience at approximately 200 indoor locations – evidenced by positive feedback from customers and internal business partners, increased traffic of up to 40%, together with both higher revenue trends and Net Promoter Scores (NPS). As indicated in the table on the following page, the fuel shortages experienced at national level impacted backup power supply through generators, hence the negative impact noted in the increased Service Unavailability Rate (SUR). Network congestion on the radio network was a challenge. We are addressing this through the rollout of new technology to cater for fixed wireless access and 4G home customers, thereby relieving radio capacity on the 4G network for consumer customers. On the positive side, data speed increased due to our major focus on congestion. Safaricom retained the leading position by providing ongoing network improvement initiatives including capacity enhancement, network optimisation and Customer Obsession. OUR HIGHLIGHTS • Launch of the M-PESA super-app. • Free tariff for interaction between M-PESA and banks. • Merchant interoperability which allows all customers to pay for goods and services at any merchant outlet regardless of the network they use. • Over 500 new sites – mainly 4G – rolled out to improve broadband coverage. • New 4G spectrum was also integrated in 1 800 sites to increase radio capacity. • 100% increase in backbone capacity and improved traffic flow within the backbone links. • Core capacity was increased to handle 60% increase in data traffic. • Improved indoor coverage. • Rolled out cumulative 10 880 km of fibre. • Increased focus on deployment partners led to the achievement of all targets.