MPs weigh metered internet billing that JTL says could kill unlimited fibre
Key points
- Proposed Section 27A(3C) of the KICA Amendment Bill, 2025 would make ISPs bill on data consumed and assign unique meter numbers.
- JTL CEO C.K. Joshua told the ICT committee on 13 August 2026 that mandatory metering could raise prices and wipe out unlimited/speed-tier fibre.
- CA data: about 2.66 million fixed-internet subscriptions in Q3 2025/26; Safaricom leads, then JTL, plus Zuku, Mawingu, Poa, Ahadi, Vilcom, Starlink.
- JTL and ICJ Kenya flag privacy risks if subscriber-level usage is sent to CA, citing the Data Protection Act 2019 and Article 31. The Bill is not yet law.
The Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2025 is still a committee file — but Section 27A(3C) already has fibre households doing the maths. It would require internet service providers to bill on consumption, give each subscriber a unique meter number and file billing-system details with the Communications Authority, Eastleigh Voice reported.
Jamii Telecommunications Limited, the Faiba operator, sent CEO C.K. Joshua to the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation on Thursday 13 August 2026. He asked MPs to let invoices follow the tariff the customer actually bought, not a forced metered default. Faiba Mobile already sells bundles; Faiba Fixed sells speed-based unlimited plans. Joshua said remote workers, students, gamers, streamers and multi-device homes would feel a switch first, and that new metering kit would be billed back to customers. CA figures put fixed subscriptions at about 2.66 million in the third quarter of 2025/26, led by Safaricom then JTL. JTL also objected to handing CA subscriber-level usage, saying that fights data-minimisation under the Data Protection Act, 2019 and Article 31. The International Commission of Jurists Kenya has raised a similar privacy flag. Committee chair John Kiarie said the submission would help mark amendment spots. The Bill still needs committee work, Second and Third Reading, the Committee of the Whole House and assent.
A meter number is not a cheaper megabyte
Transparency of usage and a ban on unlimited fibre are different policies. If MPs want itemised bills, they can require a usage dashboard without deleting speed-tier products used by schools and shops.
Technology desk: Technology. Verified section number, 2.66 million figure, 13 August hearing and Joshua/Kiarie remarks from Eastleigh Voice.
The committee should publish the draft clause-by-clause matrix after JTL and CA sit together. CA should say what subscriber fields it actually needs for “annual returns.”
Households on unlimited fibre should keep their current contract until assent — this text is not yet law.
Readers should cross-check any deadline, fee, court date or programme claim against primary gazettes, agency circulars and court records before acting on this report.
Official gazettes, court rulings and agency circulars may update these facts after publication; readers should verify any deadline, fee or court date against primary sources before acting.
Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of JTL’s 13 August submission. The Bill can still be amended or dropped.
