E-payment service provider Jambo Pay has now received a green light to operate a virtual mobile phone service in Kenya. This was made known by the Jambo Pay’s parent company Web Tribe on Monday that said it has been awarded a mobile virtual network operator licence.

This licence granted by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) will now allow the service to lease spectrum from mobile network operators and roll out mobile services.

Following this approval from the regulator, Jambo Pay said that it is conducting a pilot before rolling out several commercial services initially in Nairobi this year. Its initial services will include smart communications networks. This will enable Kenyans to check their water and electricity meter services and pay for the bills as well as track their vehicles.

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“Yes, we have a been granted License for the Mobile Virtual Network operator. This we intend to utilise to provide additional services to our client base. The services will include IoT (Internet of Things services),” said  Jambo Pay CEO Danson Muchemi.

Speaking to Business Daily, Mr Muchemi revealed that the firm will also be investing KES 300 million as it looks to target mobile payments in sectors like public transport and the energy sector.

“We will make available the IoT (Internet of Things) network to innovators, applications developers and device manufacturers,” Muchemi added. “We are running a limited pilot in parts of Nairobi. The commercial rollout will be the last half of this year.”

This entry into the telco market by Jambo Pay is also expected to take the battle to players like Safaricom that is also planning to bring customer solutions by integrating IoT to deliver smart water metering and animal tracking systems.