Mobile phone operator Yu Mobile is to skip the development of a 3G network, instead focusing on developing an LTE network the company believes will help it add subscribers.
The company will begin the development of the network once it secures the relevant funding.
Yu Kenya Country Manager Madhur Taneja said in a statement “it is already too late to start investing in 3G infrastructure when the rest of the world is moving to 4G.”
According to Taneja, the company “will instead save costs and participate in the LTE consortium set up by the government.” He said that 4G was the future and that Yu would rather focus on that than develop a 3G network that would only be used for a short period.
HumanIPO reported recently that Yu was looking to took a KSh16.8 billion (US$200 million) loans from international financiers to meet its expansion plans and upgrade its network.
The company said it had been having difficulties in obtaining funding from local partners, and was looking for for finance to reduce the pressure on India’s Essar Group, which owns 80 percent of the operator.
Yu is Kenya’s third largest operator, and has been making some headway in recent months, with the most recent Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) statistics showing that as of September last year it boasted 9.1 percent of market share, compared to 3.3 percent in June.
