Airtel is closing its Kenyan wholesale fibre company after two years and no revenue

Airtel Africa is shutting down its Kenyan wholesale fibre business after more than two years without recording commercial revenue.

Airtel Kenya Telesonic Limited, which was set up to sell wholesale connectivity to businesses and other network operators, is surrendering its network facilities licence to the Communications Authority.

Telesonic's first accounts, covering July 2022 to December 2023, recorded zero revenue and a net loss of just KSh38,406. The company held a network facilities licence valued at KSh15 million, which was issued for 15 years from January 2025.

Airtel surrendered the licence before the first year of the licence term was complete. Telesonic subsequently recorded a KSh14 million write-off in 2025, pushing its accumulated losses to KSh19.08 million.

By the end of 2025, the company had about KSh284,275 in cash and owed KSh18.5 million to sister company Airtel Networks Kenya. Its accounts were prepared on a liquidation basis as Airtel moved to close the business.

The board approved the closure on February 6, the same day Airtel returned the physical licence booklet to the Communications Authority.

Telesonic entered a wholesale connectivity market that already included players such as Safaricom, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, SEACOM and Bayobab. Its accounts do not give a reason for the failure to attract customers, only showing that it generated no commercial revenue before the licence was surrendered.

Airtel is still active in Kenya's fibre market through its consumer business, Airtel Networks Kenya, which operates Xstream Fibre in Nairobi.

Kenya had 2.66 million fixed internet subscriptions as of March 2026, including 1.47 million fibre connections. Safaricom had 35.4% of the market, followed by Faiba at 19.5%, Zuku at 10.4% and Poa at 9.7%. Airtel was outside the top ten.

Telesonic is therefore exiting Kenya without ever recording commercial revenue, while Airtel continues to compete for customers through its separate retail fibre business.