During the signing of the partnership, the companies acknowledged the need for getting into strategic partnerships so as to continuously provide superior and reliable services to Kenyans.

AccessKenya Group's MD Jonathan Somen says, "Our goal remains to provide the most reliable, most consistent services in Kenya backed up with first class customer service. Given our record uptime of 99.93% last year on our fibre network, partnering with Airtel to provide top quality fixed line services will help both companies to further expand our market shares. By forming a partnership with a leading and global brand such as Airtel, it reinforces our ability to deliver world class services to the Kenyan public."

Airtel Kenya MD Rene Meza observed that the infrastructure improvement partnership is a perfect complement to Airtel's goal of offering first class services in support of its goal of providing a truly differentiated and superior quality customer experience of its products and service offering.

"This new partnership helps us strengthen our competitive position besides the quality delivery of our voice services through AccessKenya's excellent fibre network to the delight of our customers in Nairobi and Mombasa", said Meza.

The deal

Airtel Kenya will gain access to AccessKenya's network and strategically gain access to all new buildings the firm connects to fibre every month. The company is currently connecting at least ten new buildings to its fibre network every month. This is expected to generate revenue for both companies as Airtel sells fixed voice services to new clients while opening new wholesale revenue streams to AccessKenya.

"We have invested millions of shillings in building this capacity to provide backhaul services for mobile operators. This deal marks our first wholesale contract with a mobile operator and that further enhances our services and leverages our investment in infrastructure and primarily our outstanding fibre network. In line with Airtel's innovative nature, they are the first mobile operator to recognize the quality of our fibre infrastructure and use it to increase their competitiveness in the local market." concluded Somen.