In Kenya, 68% of urban and 49% of rural adults use mobile internet, study finds

Handset prices keep many Kenyans off the mobile internet, and data costs hold back those who are online, according to a study by the GSMA and the Partnership for Digital Access in Africa (PDAA), Business Daily reported on 5 October 2026.

In Kenya's urban areas, 68% of adults use mobile internet, against 49% in rural areas. In towns, 27% know about mobile internet but do not use it and 6% are unaware of it. In the countryside, 38% know about it but do not use it and 13% are unaware.

For people who know about mobile internet but stay offline, the cost of an internet-enabled phone is the biggest barrier in both urban and rural areas. Among people who already use it, data costs are the biggest obstacle to using more.

Global smartphone prices are under pressure from a shortage of memory chips, as manufacturers give priority to supplying AI data centres. Global smartphone shipments fell 11% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, to their lowest second-quarter level since 2013, according to Counterpoint Research.

On data prices, Business Daily said a 2025 World Bank analysis found that Kenya's mobile market is highly concentrated, and linked this structure to higher data prices and lower usage than in some regional peers such as Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia.

Demand is still growing. Figures from the Communications Authority of Kenya show mobile data subscriptions reached 64.3 million by June 2026, up 9.7% from 58.6 million a year earlier. Of these, 48.3 million were 4G. The authority's figures show 5G subscriptions rose 69% from a year earlier, to 2.1 million.

Separately, the GSMA and the PDAA launched a roadmap on 21 September 2026 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to the GSMA's press release. It says about 906 million people in Africa live within mobile broadband coverage but do not use mobile internet, nearly 60% of the continent's population. Another 122 million, 8%, live outside coverage.

The roadmap covers 11 markets, including Kenya. The GSMA said that halving the usage gap in those markets would bring about 245 million more people online. Its target is to connect 1 billion people in Africa by 2030.

John Giusti, the GSMA's chief regulatory officer, said in the release: "The urgent task now is to close the usage gap by making smartphones and services affordable, equipping people with practical skills, building trust and ensuring connectivity delivers visible value in people's daily lives."