Data speeds feature as one of the most important aspects of mobile use cases in Kenya. Locals want to know which carrier is the fastest, and while at it, which one is the cheapest as well. However, striking a balance between the two metrics is challenging, likely because the fastest mobile internet providers are not the cheapest. The reverse is also true, especially when considering other points such as latency and consistency.
That aside, Ookla has released the mobile internet assessment for Kenya for the third quarter of 2022. The information hasn’t changed much from Q2, but there are some key numbers that we should take note of.
First, is that Safaricom is still the fastest mobile internet provider in Kenya.
Secondly, latency, which gamers love to talk about, has favoured Faiba at 32 ms. This was the case in Q2 as well.
In terms of consistency, Safaricom still leads the pack with an 81.6 percent score.
The fastest phone (in terms of linking to mobile internet network) is the iPhone 12 Pro 5G, which recorded a median download of 47.94 Mbps, a median upload of 11.58 Mbps, and a median latency of 31 ms.
Lastly, Kisumu recorded the highest mobile speeds in Kenya at 22.68 Mbps, 8.21 Mbps, and 30 ms in median download, median upload, and median latency, respectively.
Here are the rest of the results:
Fastest providers
| Provider | Median download speed (Mbps) |
| Safaricom | 22.19 |
| Airtel | 15.69 |
| Faiba | 12.00 |
| Telkom | 5.80 |
Multi-server latency
| Provider | Latency in ms |
| Faiba | 32 |
| Airtel | 38 |
| Safaricom | 44 |
| Telkom | 49 |
Consistency
| Provider | Consistency (%) |
| Safaricom | 81.6 |
| Airtel | 79.7 |
| Faiba | 64.0 |
| Telkom | 46.4 |
Device speeds
| Device | Median down (Mbps) | Median up (Mbps) | Median latency (ms) |
| iPhone 13 Pro 5G | 47.94 | 11.58 | 31 |
| iPhone 13 Pro Max | 44.18 | 12.93 | 30 |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max 5G | 35.89 | 9.91 | 30 |
| iPhone 11 | 29.09 | 11.65 | 31 |
City speeds
| City | Median up (Mbps) | Median down (Mbps) | Median latency (ms) |
| Kisumu | 22.63 | 8.21 | 30 |
| Mombasa | 22.58 | 13.03 | 34 |
| Eldoret | 19.11 | 10.84 | 29 |
| Nairobi | 17.91 | 9.74 | 27 |
| Nakuru | 15.66 | 8.94 | 30 |
