Rift Valley Roses Accounts Manager Jackson Mulera and SimbaNet Chief Operations Officer Toni Wood at a flower greenhouse in Naivasha. RVR is among the beneficiaries of SimbaSky internet swrvice.
Internet service provider SimbaNet, a subsidiary of Wananchi Group, is seeking to connect small and medium size enterprises to low-cost but internet. The service, dubbed SimbaSky, targets entrepreneurs in this rapidly growing segment in need of reliable internet.
Simbanet Chief Operating Officer Toni Wood says SMEs have been victims of inadequate internet service provision. Mr Wood was speaking at the Laser Engineering, an upcoming engineering and drilling firm in Naivasha, Nakuru County.
“We will address the difficulties consumers in rural and semi-urban areas are facing when it comes to accessibility of Internet and this is because the service has unlimited coverage across East Africa and beyond,” said the COO.
SimbaNet is an ICT solutions company with operations across African countries which include Tanzania (its origin), Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and United Arab Emirates. SimbaSky relies on VSAT satellite technology.
“SimbaNet is faster and reliable, since I subscribed to it two years ago, our company has benefited a lot and due to its 15mbps speed,” said Angeline, a clerk at Laser Engineering firm. At a monthly subscription of KSh5000,SimbaNet targets a wide range of SMEs hoping to take internet to the people as opposed to people moving into towns to get faster internet service installations.
The firm also targets to connect multiple sectors in remote areas in agriculture, education and mining sectors. Rift Valley Roses in Naivasha is set to benefit from the internet. Through its floricultural business, the company’s accountant revealed SimbaSky has helped them boost their business, which mostly relies on communications to clients overseas. “It is undeniably affordable, that is why we use it and especially because our company is young,” said Jackson Mulera, accounts manager at RVR.
With the internet industry already congested, Toni Woods is upbeat that SimbaNet is up to the task and will face the competition head on. “By going to rural areas, we are not literally running away from competition in towns, our clients speak for themselves and our services are out there,” he said.
So far, 500 SMEs across the country have subscribed to the service and growing. “SimbaSky provides internet connectivity and other value added services such as domain registration. Our goal is to provide maximum quality while reducing the overall operational costs for our clients,” said Anil Hassan, the Head of SME sales.
The main challenge, however, is lack of awareness. Many people have not fully understood the concept. “We are educating our customers, enough capacity has been put to fully ensure that the whole idea is out there,” said Wood, SimbaNet COO.
The company also offers free data to SimbaNet customers from midnight to six in the morning every day.
Leave a comment