Smartphones, mobile data drive Kenya’s growing digital economy
Kenya’s digital economy continued to expand in the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, with rising mobile subscriptions, smartphone uptake and internet use pointing to a growing shift towards digital communication and services.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that active mobile subscriptions rose to 88 million by June 2026, up 4.6 per cent from the previous quarter and 4.6 per cent year-on-year. The figure translated to a mobile penetration rate of 165 per cent, reflecting the continued expansion of mobile connectivity in the country.
The growth was accompanied by a steady migration towards smartphones and faster mobile networks. Smartphone connections increased 4.2 per cent during the quarter to 52.3 million, while feature-phone connections fell 3.9 per cent to 27.4 million.
The CA attributed the continued smartphone uptake to the expansion of 4G and 5G networks.
Mobile data subscriptions also expanded, reaching 64.3 million by June 2026, a 9.7 per cent increase from 58.6 million recorded a year earlier. Mobile broadband subscriptions rose 3.9 per cent during the quarter to 54.9 million, accounting for 85.5 per cent of mobile data subscriptions, with 4G remaining the most adopted broadband technology.
The increased reliance on internet-based communication was also reflected in declining SMS use. Domestic SMS traffic fell 0.3 per cent during the financial year to 57.1 billion messages, with the CA linking the decline mainly to the growing use of over-the-top messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.
At the same time, domestic mobile voice traffic rose 13.6 per cent to 126.7 billion minutes.
Mobile money remained a major component of Kenya’s digital economy, with subscriptions increasing 13.2 per cent over the year to 54 million by June 2026. This translated to a mobile-money penetration rate of 101.3 per cent. However, the number of registered mobile-money agents declined 5.6 per cent during the quarter, from 602,470 to 568,463.
The shift towards internet-based services was equally evident in fixed connectivity. Fixed data and internet subscriptions increased 6.9 per cent during the quarter and 32.4 per cent year-on-year to 2.84 million by June 2026. Fibre-optic subscriptions rose 29.7 per cent year-on-year to 1.57 million, while satellite subscriptions increased 54.4 per cent to 27,695.
Traditional fixed voice services, meanwhile, continued to lose ground. Domestic fixed voice traffic plunged 89.4 per cent year-on-year to 4.55 million minutes in the 2025/26 financial year, as consumers and businesses increasingly shifted to mobile and internet-based communication platforms.
The digital expansion is also creating a larger cybersecurity challenge. Although detected cyber threats fell 30 per cent quarter-on-quarter to about 2.36 billion in April-June 2026, total threats for the 2025/26 financial year rose 29 per cent to 11.12 billion. System vulnerabilities accounted for the largest share, while web application attacks nearly doubled year-on-year.
The CA said the continued growth in mobile cellular, mobile money, mobile broadband, smartphones and fixed internet subscriptions points to sustained demand for digital connectivity and services, with internet-based communication and digital content expected to continue driving demand for broadband and bandwidth.
