Bharti Airtel has invested Ksh2.5 billion ($27.4 million) to upgrade its network in Kenya to enhance indoor coverage and 3G quality as it prepares to set up a 4G network. 

Airtel officials said its indoor coverage in major Kenyan cities had been affected by increased urbanisation and its current spectrum on 1800Mhz.

New, tall buildings across major cities are blocking base stations requiring operators to shift the stations and deploy stronger spectrums that allow transmission of voice, messages and data.

“We are going to launch 3G (UMTS) services in 900Mhz spectrum in major cities and make the network 4G LTE ready,” said Airtel Kenya in a statement.

The second largest mobile operator by subscriber numbers has upgraded all sites in Mombasa and Kitale, and Nairobi is in progress. With the growing demand for data services, alongside the increasing proliferation of smartphones, the 900Mhz spectrum upgrade project significantly enhances indoor coverage penetration and improves data quality for 3G network users.

The announcement comes as the Communications Authority seeks to increase penalties for poor quality services by mobile operators to either 0.1 per cent or 0.2 per cent of their gross revenue from a flat rate of Ksh500,000 ($5,494).

A shift by Airtel to 900Mhz from the 1800Mhz band means that signals will travel a longer distance — the higher the frequency band, the lesser the distance and the poorer the quality. The 900Mhz band has 30 per cent to 40 per cent better coverage than the 1800Mhz band.

Airtel’s 4G rollout in Kenya will be its third; Airtel Africa launched 4G in Seychelles and Rwanda in November last year.

In 2014, Safaricom became the first mobile telecommunication company in Kenya to launch the 4G service in Kenya and is currently carrying out a pilot project.

READ: Delayed 4G rollout could lock out telcos eyeing digital TV market