HOW SAFARICOM FIBRE ENDED MILAN MEHTA’S FAMILY CONNECTIVITY STRUGGLES

Milan Mehta, a logistics professional and father of two, the internet is not a luxury but the central nervous system of his family’s home. In their busy household, the day’s rhythm is set by the silent, steady flow of data through their Safaricom Home Fibre connection.

Mehta, his wife who works in the medical sector, and their two school-age children represent a modern family with modern needs. Their digital demands are constant and simultaneous. “I started off with a lower package,” Mehta explains, “but now with kids exposed to technology, it’s almost like there are multiple devices within the household that have internet requirements at the same time.” 

The realisation soon dawned that their bandwidth was insufficient. “You’d find I’m probably busy on a conference call, one of the kids is on the PlayStation playing an online game, and then there’s somebody else on a mobile device as well. We needed an upgrade.”

This need led them to the Safaricom Platinum package. For Mehta, the choice of provider was driven by two key factors: reliability and trust. He has experienced the frustration of unreliable service in the past. “I have had some difficult experiences,” he recalls. “Where I’ve had deadlines to submit a project, and you find that the internet is not reliable. You’re on a conference call and the connectivity isn’t good, and you’re not getting the right feedback or support with the urgency that is necessary.”

His experience with Safaricom Home Fibre, however, has been a study in contrast. “It’s been seamless, I would say, absolutely seamless, with minimal downtime,” he states. He particularly values the proactive communication. “Even before downtime happens, or in case of maintenance, there’s always communication in advance. I’ve also had cases where you get a message on your phone saying, ‘Here’s one GB of data as we fix the problem to keep you going.’ The experience has been amazing.”

A typical day in the Mehta household illustrates this seamless integration. Regular television has been largely replaced by online streaming. The children, part of a generation with different media habits, may not sit through a two-hour film but will spend hours gaming online with their friends.

The true value of this robust connection was crystallised during the Covid-19 lockdowns. “The social element still remained,” Mehta notes. “The kids were able to interact with their friends online. Then the schooling element was a total change with online classrooms.” It was a period that brought a new appreciation for the infrastructure supporting their daily lives.

This reliability once proved critical in a more personal emergency. “My youngest son had an injury just within the compound, and the nanny needed to reach out to us,” Mehta shares. “The good thing is, she’s connected to the Wi-Fi network and was able to reach out to myself and my wife on WhatsApp. She didn’t have airtime, but the connection was there. As small as it might be, it really came through.”

When asked what he enjoys most, his answer is immediate. “The reliability, the seamless connectivity. What we plan to do on a typical day, maybe if we plan for a movie, we’re not sitting there getting the buffering issue.”

His final word is one of word. “For a friend, I would definitely recommend Home Fibre because of the reliability aspect. Having a seamless connectivity is important for everyone in my circle, whether for work or their free time. Reliability comes through for me.”