Ever wondered what your teen does with their smartphone?
Well, if anything like most, they are probably glued to TikTok and YouTube.
This trend has had a massive impact on Safaricom’s network – with these two apps now gobbling up over half of the company’s mobile data traffic.
A perfect example of this shift was on July 14, during the European football finals.
As Spain clinched victory, Safaricom saw a record 3.964 petabytes of data streaming through their network.
To put that into perspective, imagine needing around 100,000 phones, each with 128 GB of storage, to hold all that data.
Safaricom’s tech team led by George Njuguna wasn’t expecting this kind of spike so soon.
“We thought this kind of traffic was still a few months away,” George said. “It’s both a thrilling chance for us and a tough challenge to tackle.”
TikTok’s rising popularity is a big part of this change.
It’s now pulling in more data than YouTube, which is why Safaricom has partnered with TikTok to set up a local Content Delivery Network (CDN).
This move is all about making sure users get the best experience without interruptions.
As more Kenyans demand high-quality video streaming, Safaricom is stepping up their game.
They have now upgraded their data capacity from 500 to 700 gigabytes and are fully plugged into all six undersea cables serving Kenya.
Safaricom’s strategy involves using past data to forecast future needs, ensuring they’re ready for whatever comes next.
And with TikTok continuing to grow, the company is setting its sights on handling even more data—targeting 4 petabytes in the near future.
