By mid‑2025, Kenya’s digital evolution—sparked by a rapid pivot to online education, mHealth and e-commerce during the 2020–21 lockdowns—has progressed significantly, yet still leaves important gaps.

📱 Mobile and Internet Connectivity

• Internet usage has grown to about 48% of the population (~27.4 million users) as of January 2025  .

• Mobile broadband adoption surged, with 38–44 million subscriptions by late 2024–early 2025, predominantly on 4G (approx. 58%) and boosted by over 1 million 5G users, underscoring strong urban uptake ().

• Smartphone ownership now covers roughly 68%–80% of devices, with mobile connections outpacing population (121–135%) thanks to multi‑SIM use ().

🌐 Infrastructure & Rural Inclusion

• Urban areas enjoy widespread 4G/5G and fiber coverage—over 97% for mobile broadband—but rural regions still lag in connectivity, affordability, and device ownership  .

• The Universal Service Fund is actively expanding fiber and mobile towers; by June 2024, around 800,000 rural residents and 24 underserved counties saw new mobile access, and ~2,500 km of “Digital Superhighway” fiber is underway  .

💸 Data Costs & Accessibility

• Mobile data prices (approx. $0.84/GB) are considered moderately affordable, though still a barrier for lower-income rural and female users  .

• Fixed broadband remains expensive (~$49/month), contributing to the low 23.8% household internet usage nationally, with stark rural disparities—for example, Nairobi at ~40%, Marsabit at ~4.7%  .

🚀 Connection Quality

• Median mobile download speeds have climbed to ~30 Mbps, while fixed broadband averages ~14.5 Mbps, marking year‑on‑year gains of 38% and 49%, respectively  .

👩🏻‍💻 Digital Adoption & Usage Trends

• Social media use has grown to 15.1 million identities (26.5% of the population), up ~16% year‑over‑year, with Kenyans spending an average of 3 hours 43 minutes daily online  .

• Online learning and remote work remain popular drivers of demand for high-speed internet and mHealth services.