The new managing director (MD) of Ericsson in Kenya, Robert Rudin, has backed the launch of 4G in the country, saying increased speeds will be necessary in the coming months given the high uptake of data consuming devices.
Rudin projects Kenya will have 100 million data consuming devices by 2020.
“History has been that the big thinkers have always said the world will never need more than 1Mbps and so on but as we have discovered there has always been a need for more,” he said.
Ericsson has been involved in the development of 4G technology elsewhere in the world, and Rudin says the government must take the right approach to make the deployment cost effective and enable Kenyans to afford the devices.
In building the network Rudin advises that the government should seek to use a low frequency band so as to reach as many people especially those in the rural areas.
“The higher you go in frequency band the lower the coverage. The problem is that if the government decides to go with the low frequency band model with new technology like LTE, there will be the need for affordable access in devices. That is not the case,” he added.
He said any technology that will require Kenyans to acquire devices worth more than US$60 is likely to see low uptake. The trick to creating a sustainable and economically viable network, according to Rudin, rests in choosing the right technology and frequency band.
