The introduction of the InfiNet product as the first ‘real' broadband wireless service in the Kenyan market revolutionalised the ICT industry in the country. Popularly identified with the consumer market Africa Online reveals that there are plans underway to move into other market segments.

In the beginning of 2007 Africa Online Kenya had a total of four base stations in Nairobi and one base station in Mombasa, for their flagship broadband product InfiNet with plans for expansion within and out of these regions. The increased demand for the product and increasing competition catalyzed the introduction of Phase two of the expansion plan which kicked off end of 2007 and continued into early 2008. This included the introduction of four additional base stations in Nairobi School, Umoja, Garden Estate, Karen and an additional base station in Mombasa increasing the Nairobi coverage from 60% to 80%. This has resulted in a 100% increase in Africa Online's InfiNet client base as compared to the same time last year.

In Kenya other than Nairobi and Mombasa, the InfiNet service has more recently penetrated the largely affordable internet starved territories of Nakuru , Eldoret, Kisumu ,Thika and many others coming up where it is proving to be improving and enriching lives of residents.

This is being replicated across other operations. InfiNet currently has presence in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania thus emphasizing the kind of cutting edge advanced technology Africa Online is ready to deploy for the betterment of society.

The organization also plans to address a large section of their client base, the SMEs, which currently make up 60% of its market. ‘By using our existing database we are in the process of developing customized solutions that are specific to this market segment and that can be adjusted to suit individual organizations' needs'.

According to George Gathu, Product Manager under whom the InfiNet product falls, "infiNet is the future of Mobile Broadband Wireless Access and with its convergence of a host of value added services, all in a single package will revolutionalize the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access concept"

InfiNet has been packaged in several packages that are affordable while not compromising of quality making it appealing to users across the social divide.

Currently the InfiNet product range is delivered using a technology approved by the IEEE Standards Association Standards Board as the 802.20 standard. In approving the standard in June, the IEEE SASB noted that this is "Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Standard Air Interface for Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Systems Supporting Vehicular Mobility - Physical and Media Access Control Layer Specification," will enable the worldwide deployment of cost-effective, spectrum-efficient, ubiquitous, always-on and interoperable multi-vendor mobile broadband wireless access networks. By operating on a standardized technology Africa Online will be able to bring its clientele greater value and quality made possible by technological advances.

Keep your eyes open for Africa Online's new product bouquet!