Kenyan internet users could soon be billed according to exactly how much data they consume, rather than paying for fixed-rate packages, under a proposed law currently before Parliament that has already drawn pushback from telecom operators and civil society groups.
The Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2025, sponsored by Aldai MP Marianne Jebet Kitany, seeks to introduce mandatory metered billing for all internet service providers operating in the country.
If passed, ISPs would be required to assign every subscriber a unique “internet meter” number, functioning much like the account numbers used by electricity or water utilities to track consumption. Providers would then have to monitor each customer’s usage, convert that data into readable consumption records, and generate invoices based on what was actually used, rather than charging a flat rate regardless of consumption.
The Bill sets out its purpose explicitly: “The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Kenya Information and Communications Act… to provide for internet billing by internet service providers for metered billing of internet use, based on consumption in order to mitigate exploitation and to secure economic interests of internet users.”
To achieve this, the Bill would broaden the legal definition of a “telecommunications operator” under the Act to explicitly capture internet service providers, and expand the definition of “internet services” itself, changes that form the legal foundation for making the rest of the Bill’s requirements enforceable.
Beyond the metering requirement, ISPs would also be required to submit annual information about their billing systems to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), and to design their pricing in a way that reflects the actual value customers derive from different internet services.
Supporters of the Bill frame it as a consumer protection measure, arguing it would give Kenyans greater transparency over what they are actually paying for, and tie the proposal to the consumer rights guaranteed under Article 46 of the Constitution.
Most Kenyan ISPs currently bill customers using fixed-speed metering, charging based on a package’s maximum download and upload speed, such as 10 megabits per second, regardless of how much data is actually used within that package. The Bill would push the market toward volume metering instead, the model already common in mobile data, where customers are charged according to the total amount of data they consume, similar to how a water or electricity meter tracks usage.
That distinction matters for cost predictability, as fixed-speed billing gives customers a stable monthly cost, while under volume metering, customers who exceed their allocated usage typically face additional per-gigabyte charges or have their connection speeds throttled for the remainder of the billing period.
The proposal has, however, run into resistance since reaching the committee stage. Telecom operators told MPs at a recent hearing before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation that mandatory usage-based billing would force them to invest heavily in new infrastructure, specifically Deep Packet Inspection systems, capable of measuring internet usage with far greater precision than current billing methods allow.
“[The proposed changes] would compel ISPs to invest millions in Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) infrastructure and complex billing mediation systems to meter every single megabyte…a cost that will ultimately be passed down to the consumer,” Jamii Telkom said in its submissions to Parliament.
They warned that the resulting costs would likely be passed on to consumers, and that the shift could undermine popular products such as unlimited fibre packages that many households currently rely on. One idea raised during the hearing as a possible middle ground would see providers required to give customers clearer information about their usage without necessarily making consumption-based billing the only pricing model on offer.
A separate objection has come from the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Kenya, which has raised concerns that the metering system could function as a surveillance mechanism. The organisation argues that requiring ISPs to track and report detailed subscriber-level usage data creates a channel through which authorities could gain far more granular insight into how individual Kenyans use the internet than exists today, a concern the group says sits uneasily alongside consumer protection as a justification for the law.
Legal and industry analysts examining the Bill have also noted that there is limited precedent globally for a utility-style “meter number” system applied specifically to internet billing in the form being proposed.
In markets such as the United States and Canada, providers typically rely instead on data caps or pay-as-you-go models, where customers are allocated a set monthly data allowance and face extra charges or reduced speeds once that limit is exceeded, a different mechanism from the itemised, usage-tracked billing system envisaged under the Kenyan proposal.
Several questions remain unresolved as the Bill moves through Parliament, including how disputes over measured data usage would be settled, whether providers would still be permitted to offer unlimited data products, and what would happen to Kenya’s dominant fixed-rate broadband packages if consumption-based billing became the default.
The Bill remains at the committee stage, with lawmakers continuing to gather stakeholder input before deciding whether or how to amend the proposal ahead of further debate in the House.
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