Wireless Federation

Kenya’s Telecommunication market is calling in stiff competition as the latest entrant in the market proclaimed their plans to make the biggest investment in the industry in recent years. India’s Essar Global Ltd. will invest $500 million over two years in Kenya’s newest mobile phone service operator, Econet Wireless Kenya Ltd., to set up a network, among other things, said S. Srinivasa, the East Africa director for the group. Econet Wireless Kenya Ltd. Chief Executive Michael Foley said the investment will also pay for licenses for other telecommunications services and the establishment of a wireless broadband service. Mobile phone network would be running by the end of November, Foley added. Srinivasa said that Essar will make the investment because the company has confidence in the Kenyan economy, following a deal to end postelection violence earlier this year that killed more than 1,000 people. He said, “Kenya is the gateway for Africa for Essar.”