Sovaya on Fire?

Another baby on the block….Sovaya. They are sprouting every day. I log on to their website, and this is what they say……

Get instant wireless broadband connectivity on demand!

With a network covering the whole of Nairobi and its environs, all you need is your Sovaya recharge card and you will be surfing at speeds that leave you breathless!

Whether it’s home or office, we have you covered.
Good thing there are no speed limits online!

– NO installation costs – NO monthly standing charge – No equipment costs
– NO bandwidth quotas – Pay only for what you use

and so on and so forth………Lots of exclamation marks.

As your resident skeptic, I lifted the phone and called their office (since am always wary of website details accuracy by service providers in Kenya). A couple of rings later am talking to Margaret….the call drops, quick redial, we are on, and she walks me through the cocktail of services they are offering. I ask many questions trying to cross check the details and she handles them well. If only they could do something about the echo on their landline, but then again maybe thats just me.

Here is the low down, from the horses mouth, disregard the website story.

If you are in the right neighbourhood, you should get the signal via your WiFi card. Then you will not need any terminal equipment on your premises. If not, you have to pay KES. 4,000 (refundable) for the equipment, repeat you have to pay some caution money ;-), yes I said disregard the website story. The installation will not cost anything, they promise.

After you are hooked up, you either sign up for the bundles below (by visiting their office in Soin Arcade, Westlands), or you buy pay-as-you-use cards via M-Pesa. The instructions on how to pay using M-Pesa shall appear on the landing page.

Bundles are as below;

Small Residential – KES. 4,080 incl. VAT for 32kbps / 128kbps (uplink/downlink)
Large Residential – KES. 5,800 incl. VAT for 64kbps / 128kbps (uplink/downlink)
Small Business    – KES. 9,280 incl. VAT for 64kbps / 128kbps (uplink/downlink)
Small Corporate   – KES. 16,240 incl. VAT for 128kbps / 256kbps (uplink/downlink)
Large Corporate  – KES. 27,840 incl. VAT for 128kbps / 512kbps (uplink/downlink)

So there you have it….unless you are interested in home surveillance, business surveillance, home telephony, business telephony, entertainment and something called super directory. Since I don’t like paying for equipment, am already unhappy with this setup. But then again, thats just me.

Sovaya…….bridge the digital divide. Call them on : 020 2365283, 0736 512164, 0713 078405 else, Email : info@sovaya.com, or walk to Soin Arcade next time you are in Westlands.

Anybody on Sovaya? Lets hear if they are really on fire.