The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the telecoms regulator, has asked the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to identify polling stations outside 3G and 4G coverage ahead of the 2027 general election. The CA is considering satellite links for places where the mobile networks may fall short. Polling officers would use the connection after the count to send in the results.
CA Deputy Director Paul Kiage told a Senate committee in Naivasha about the regulator’s work with mobile operators. The CA has asked operators for coverage information down to the sub-location, a local administrative area. It has also worked with the IEBC to get the coordinates of polling stations. Comparing those locations with the operators’ coverage data should help the commission see where mobile data is likely to work and where it may need a backup. The CA also plans to monitor network quality in the areas around polling stations. A school can sit inside an operator’s coverage area and still have a weak signal in the room where an officer needs to send the results.
What the connection carries
After the polls close, officers count the paper ballots at the station and record the presidential tally on Form 34A. In 2022, the officer in charge used a Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) device to scan and send the completed form. The Elections Act requires electronic transmission and physical delivery of the presidential results to the constituency and national tallying centres, where the results are collated and checked. It also requires the IEBC to publish the polling result forms on a public portal. With a working connection, officers can send the form from the station as soon as it is ready. That can shorten the wait for voters following the results online.
When we covered the role of mobile networks in the 2022 election, the IEBC had satellite modems as a fallback. A satellite terminal can carry data from the election kit without a signal from a nearby mobile tower. The commission’s 2022 post-election evaluation says it deployed satellite technology for results transmission at 1,111 polling centres without 3G or 4G coverage. The figure refers to polling centres, which can each house several polling stations.
The IEBC invited bids for a three-year satellite network contract for its results transmission system. Bidding closed on 30th October 2026. The tender listing names no winner. The Senate briefing accounts give no count of the stations outside mobile coverage or of how many might need a satellite terminal. The commission still has to work out where the signal falls short and which backup officers can use at each of those stations.
Under its election operations plan, the IEBC aims to publish the list of polling stations without network coverage between 17th and 24th July 2027. It also plans to name the network providers in July, ahead of the election on 10th August 2027. The list would show voters and observers where a backup may be needed. An on-site test would show whether officers can use that backup to send Form 34A from the room where they count the votes.
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