Kenya: SIP providers and connecting a number to your PBX

We do not issue phone numbers: the venue buys a Kenyan number from a provider and connects it to its own PBX as a trunk. Everything that is the same in every country — trunk modes, form fields, network requirements and connectivity checks — is covered in the overview “Connecting a provider's number to your PBX”. This page covers only the Kenyan part: where to get a number, what to enter in the admin panel and what people trip over in this country.

The data was collected on 10 September 2026 from provider websites, documents of the regulator CA and vendor certifications; links are in the “Sources” section.

In brief#

• You can buy a trunk for your own PBX in Kenya: the licence is required from the seller, not from the venue. The CA VoIP guidelines (2021 revision) split the schemes explicitly: selling a voice service and carrying traffic into the PSTN/PLMN requires an Applications Service Provider (ASP) licence, while self-provided communication inside your own network is not subject to regulation. A venue's corporate PBX needs no licence of its own.
• The main local pitfall is “the PBX must be in Kenya”. A 3CX partner who tried to set up a Safaricom trunk on a PBX abroad got a direct answer from the carrier: the trunk can only be connected if the PBX is in Kenya. Our dedicated PBX lives in a cloud outside the country, so trunks from mobile and fixed carriers (Safaricom, Telkom, Airtel, Faiba, Liquid) are effectively out of reach — OTT providers and number aggregators are what works.
• The only Kenyan provider that publishes trunk parameters is Cloud One: hosts cs01.cloudone.co.ke and ls02.cloudone.co.ke, signalling over UDP 5060, trunks both with registration and by IP, its own range +254 20 790 XXXX and toll-free 0800 000 XXX. This is the default recommendation.
• Africa's Talking is the only local source that explicitly allows a PBX in the cloud: its connection requirements say the PBX server may be “on cloud or on premise”. The mode is IP authorisation: you hand over the PBX address for whitelisting.
• Without a Kenyan legal entity the fastest routes are Telxi (sip.telxi.com, UDP 5060, registration) or AstraQom (local Nairobi numbers +254 20, from USD 32 a month); among international providers, DIDWW offers a local trunk for Kenya.
• You may not substitute the number on outbound calls. The CA guidelines (clause 4.4) require the full details of the calling party to be presented; a breach falls under the 1998 communications act and can go as far as revoking the provider's licence — meaning the provider will cut the customer off long before the regulator gets to them.
• A mobile number has nine digits while the line matches seven. 0720 123 456 and 0730 123 456 produce the same tail 0123456 and collapse into a single line.

Numbers in Kenya#

The country code is +254. The national number (N(S)N) has 7 to 9 digits, the national prefix is 0 and the international prefix is 000. Inside East Africa regional access codes apply: 003 Burundi, 004 Rwanda, 005 Kenya, 006 Uganda, 007 Tanzania.

• Who holds the mobile series: Safaricom — 700–709, 710–719, 720–729, 740–743, 745–746, 748, 757–759, 768–769, 790–799, 110–117; Airtel — 730–739, 750–756, 762, 767, 780–789, 100–108; Telkom Kenya — 770–779; Jamii Telecoms — 747.
• No Kenyan carrier publishes the form in which the number arrives on an inbound call. Expect either the national format without the leading zero (20790XXXX) or E.164; Telxi requires the trunk number strictly in E.164. On the first connection look at the SIP trace to see what the provider sends, and only then create your lines.
• The seven-digit tail. A line is matched by the last seven digits while a mobile N(S)N has nine, so numbers from different carriers can share a tail. Do not put two numbers with the same last seven digits into one account — the call is still accepted, but it lands on the wrong line.
• Emergency numbers are 999 and 112 (the National Police single number); the CA numbering plan lists no other nationwide emergency numbers. Emergency calls are not served through our PBX — an ordinary mobile phone must stay on the shift.
• Dialling out: international — 000 plus the number, East African neighbours — 005/006/007 plus the national number, domestic — 0 plus the national number.

Who sells a number with a SIP trunk#

Below are cards for the four providers whose trunk to a third-party PBX is sold as a product in its own right and whose parameters are known in advance, followed by a review of the carriers. The full list of questions for a sales manager is in “What to ask your provider”.

Cloud One — Business SIP Trunk#

A Kenyan telephony company (founded in 2017) and a CA licensee: its own data centre in Kenya, its own autonomous system, its own number range +254 20 790 XXXX in the CA numbering plan plus toll-free 0800 000 XXX, and direct interconnects with every carrier in the country. Products: Business SIP (a subscription for 8 to 128 channels with numbers bundled by concurrent call count — “an 8-channel SIP trunk includes 8 numbers”), Pay As You Go SIP, Country Presence SIP and separate virtual, golden and toll-free numbers.

This is the only Kenyan provider that publishes its trunk parameters — in the knowledge base article on firewall configuration: signalling and media hosts cs01.cloudone.co.ke or ls02.cloudone.co.ke, signalling over UDP 5060; trunks are offered both register- and peer-based. Per the Yeastar certification the codecs are alaw, ulaw, g729a and DTMF is RFC 2833; G.711 is all we need.

What to enter in the admin panel (Telephony → “Trunks and connections” → “Add provider”):

What to set up on the provider's side: state the trunk type (registration or IP) and the number of concurrent calls in your application → hand over the static IP of your PBX from the “Server” tab for whitelisting on their firewall → point your 020 790 XXXX numbers at the trunk → ask explicitly for G.711 a-law/u-law → write to support immediately whenever the PBX address changes.

Pitfalls ⚠️

• Their guide is written for a PBX on the customer's premises — it says nothing about a station in someone else's cloud. The first question for support before paying: will they whitelist our PBX address.
• One address per trunk, and a blacklist for silence. Exactly one public IP or DDNS host is accepted, and they require you to report any change of address: otherwise, in their wording, the connection gets blacklisted on their network. Moving the machine is planned work with a ticket to the carrier.
• Numbers come bundled with channels: you cannot buy one number and thirty channels.
• Port 5061 (TLS) appears in their guide, but our PBX does not support TLS for trunks — take plain UDP 5060.

Source: Cloud One — Firewall Configuration for SIP Trunks and Yeastar — certified providers, Kenya — 10.09.2026.

Africa's Talking — an IP-authorised trunk#

A Kenyan voice and SMS API platform based in Nairobi. Its help centre describes the trunk directly: “using SIP trunks we can connect to your PBX and allow you to make and receive voice calls”, and the connection requirements list a PBX server “on cloud or on premise”. This is the only local source found with such wording, which makes Africa's Talking the main fallback for our setup.

The connection order from their own instructions: 1) request a voice number; 2) sign the KYC document they send; 3) pay for the number; 4) hand over your PBX IP for whitelisting; 5) in the dashboard the number's handling address is changed to trunk:<your IP>; 6) configure the PBX and test.

What to enter in the admin panel:

What to set up on the provider's side: buy a +254 voice number → sign the KYC document → send support the public static IP of your dedicated PBX from the “Server” tab → in the dashboard (Voice → Phone Numbers → actions) set the number's handling address to trunk:<your IP> → ask for their gateway addresses so you can whitelist them in return if you wish.

Pitfalls ⚠️

• The route is set per number, not per trunk. Several numbers mean several edits in the dashboard, and a newly bought number is easy to forget.
• Changing the PBX IP breaks the link twice over: you need both a support ticket and an edit of the handling address on every number.
• Clarify the outbound CallerID separately — the platform's voice numbers are primarily for inbound calls, and the rules for presenting a number are covered by a separate help article.
• Kenyan pricing is published as an attached file in their pricing article — check it on the date you download it.

Source: Africa's Talking — What do I need to set up a SIP trunk connection? — 10.09.2026.

Telxi — a self-serve trunk#

A provider of SIP trunks and numbers certified by Yeastar specifically in the Kenya section (alongside Cloud One): Register Trunk mode, codecs ulaw, alaw, g722, g729a, GSM, DTMF RFC 2833. The model is self-service: you create the trunk in the portal, channels are unlimited, billing is per use and numbers can be ported. Of everything found for Kenya this is the most conventional trunk: a login, a password and ordinary registration.

What to enter in the admin panel:

What to set up on the provider's side: create the trunk in the portal → buy or port a Kenyan number → point the number at the trunk → if their fraud filter is on, add your PBX IP to the allowed list → create the line by the last seven digits of the number.

Pitfalls ⚠️

• Kenya is not a showcase country for Telxi: the site highlights Europe, the UK and the US. Confirm the availability of local +254 numbers in writing before paying.
• Numbers are entered in E.164 — when creating a line, go by the last seven digits rather than by the notation.
• This is not a Kenyan licensee: the numbers come through a local partner, so the venue has no direct relationship with a carrier.

Source: Telxi — how to connect your SIP trunk to 3CX or other PBX and Yeastar — Kenya — 10.09.2026.

AstraQom Kenya — local Nairobi numbers#

An international provider with a dedicated Kenya storefront: “carrier-grade voice trunks for any PBX”, local coverage of Nairobi +254 20 and declared compatibility with Asterisk, FreeSWITCH and 3CX. The pricing is published: STARTER — USD 32 a month (1 number, 1 line, 100 minutes to Kenyan fixed and mobile numbers), CORPORATE — USD 82, DELUXE — USD 132; setup is USD 8.90 in the first month, an extra number is USD 11.10 a month, inbound calls are free. Activation takes 1–3 business days, and numbers that need local document checks take longer.

What to enter in the admin panel:

What to set up on the provider's side: pick a plan → pass the document check for a Kenyan number → point the numbers at the trunk → ask for the trunk parameters in writing (host, port, mode, codecs) → in IP mode, add the PBX address to the whitelist.

Pitfalls ⚠️

• The plans include 1–2 lines. For a venue with a call queue, work out the number of concurrent conversations in advance — otherwise guests will hear a busy tone.
• Which Kenyan carrier is behind your number is not disclosed. In a dispute over the number or a block, the venue is left without a direct relationship with a local carrier.
• Trunk parameters are not published — before paying, ask them to confirm UDP 5060 and G.711.

Source: AstraQom — Kenya SIP Trunks — 10.09.2026.

Carriers — a trunk only for a PBX inside Kenya#

Kenyan carriers do sell SIP trunks, but none of them publishes a host, a port or codecs: everything arrives in the provisioning order. More importantly, the service is tied to their own access link, and Safaricom told a 3CX partner outright that the trunk is only connected if the PBX is in Kenya. For our setup (a PBX in a cloud outside the country) this is a blocking condition, which is why there are no parameter cards for them: the question to ask is not “which host” but “will you accept a PBX outside Kenya”.

• Safaricom PLC — the One Connect Business (voice) and One Connect Plus (a trunk with international calling and reserved extensions) packages. The application is the Fixed Service Application Form: an ID and a registration certificate, a certificate of incorporation, VAT and tax number certificates, and a choice of last mile (fibre, WiMax, microwave, LTE). The product has no dedicated public page.
• Telkom Kenya — “Business SIP Trunk … a voice service based on the SIP protocol for customers with an existing PBX”: a flexible trunk size (“12, 13, 22 or more” channels), interoperability testing with leading IP PBXs, keeping your existing number when moving off legacy telephony, and per-second billing. ⚠️ The FAQ on the product page is about mobile bundles rather than the trunk: do not trust technical details from there.
• Jamii Telecommunications (Faiba SIP) — a dedicated product storefront: “works out of the box with Cisco, Avaya, Asterisk and all major SIP-compliant PABX systems”, “HD voice quality (G.711 / Opus)”, unlimited concurrent calls and a quality portal. ⚠️ Our PBX does not support Opus — ask for G.711 explicitly. The service is “fibre-backed”: raise the question of an external cloud before paying.
• Iristel Kenya — a holder of the 020 range and a rare case of published pricing: KES 2,320 per user per month and KES 348 per number per month (both including 16% VAT), installation KES 11,600, fair use 2,500 minutes per user. Their form asks for the number of concurrent calls and the address type (dynamic or static), which means registration with a dynamic address is allowed in principle. Contacts: +254 20 8784747 ext. 4740/4742, customercare@iristel.co.ke. ⚠️ Billing is per user rather than per channel: clarify the model for a single trunk.
• Liquid Intelligent Technologies Kenya — “SIP trunking allows you to securely connect your onsite or hosted PBX to the Liquid voice network over your internet connection”; voice is available in six countries including Kenya, with the caveat that “in-country regulations apply”. The channel and number counts per trunk are configurable, and sales go through the corporate team.
• Airtel Networks Kenya — no SIP trunk product is described in open sources; integrators mention Airtel trunks, but no page from the carrier itself could be found. Assess it with a call to corporate sales.

International providers with Kenyan numbers#

Kenyan numbers can be bought online, but with document checks. What is confirmed by provider documents as of 10.09.2026:

• Telnyx — local, mobile and toll-free Kenyan numbers are available, local ones “from USD 1”. Requirements: business use is mandatory (“private use is not allowed”), the name and phone of an authorised person, the company name, an address in any country and proof of address no older than three months. Local calling inside Kenya is supported.
• DIDWW — for Kenya both local SIP trunking and international termination are available, and local +254 numbers are sold separately. The modes are static endpoint (by IP) and dynamic registration: both work for us.
• Twilio — the requirements are stricter: the address must be within the number's region, a PO box is not acceptable, and companies need a commercial register extract naming an authorised person plus their ID. Without a Kenyan address a Nairobi number is out of reach.
• CommPeak — a SIP trunking page for Kenya exists; request the trunk parameters at connection time.
• Zadarma — does not sell Kenyan numbers: it has no country page for Kenya.
• AstraQom — covered above in its own card: it has a dedicated Kenyan storefront with pricing.

Trunk parameters at international providers are standard and described in the admin panel catalogue cards: most use registration with a login and password from the dashboard, some use IP authorisation.

⚠️ A general caveat: none of them holds a CA licence — the number is issued through a local licensed partner. That works for inbound calls, but in a dispute over the number (porting, a block) the venue has no direct relationship with a Kenyan carrier.

Number porting#

• Mobile number portability works. It is covered by separate CA guidelines (2018 revision), and the port itself must be executed within 240 minutes; in practice, allow several business days for document checks.
• Portability of geographic numbers is not covered by a general CA framework. The only documented “keep your number” case is inside Telkom Kenya: moving from their legacy telephony to the Business SIP Trunk keeps the number.
• Register the number to the company straight away. Registering a number with a licensee requires a set of corporate documents; a number registered to an employee is a risk when they leave.
• A number from an international aggregator ports back into the local network poorly. Before buying, ask the receiving carrier whether they will accept such a number.
• Emergency calls over a trunk are unreliable. Even when the trunk works, a call to 999/112 goes out through the provider and is identified by their data. Keep an ordinary mobile phone on the shift.
• ⚠️ Changing the public address of the PBX breaks an IP-authorised trunk and, with Cloud One, lands you on their blacklist. Warn the provider in advance when the dedicated machine is recreated.

Rules and paperwork#

If it does not work#

1. The provider refuses because the PBX is not in Kenya. This is the most common local cause and no setting fixes it: at carriers the trunk is tied to their access link. Ask before paying; if the answer is no, take Cloud One, Africa's Talking, Telxi or an international aggregator.
2. The Cloud One trunk stopped working after the server moved. They keep exactly one address on the whitelist and require notice of any change; otherwise the connection is blacklisted. Send support the new address from the “Server” tab.
3. The call connects but there is silence. Usually a codec mismatch: Faiba advertises G.711 and Opus, and some providers have G.729 on by default. We need G.711 a-law/u-law or G.722 — ask for G.711 explicitly.
4. With Africa's Talking there is no registration and no inbound calls either. There should be no registration — the mode is IP based. Check that every number in the dashboard has its handling address set to trunk:<your IP> and that the address itself is on their whitelist.
5. Two numbers collapsed into one line. A line is matched by the last seven digits while a mobile number has nine: 0720 123 456 and 0730 123 456 share a tail. Pick numbers with different tails.
6. Registration is green but nothing comes in. Check whether the number is pointed at your trunk in the provider's dashboard and whether the “Accepts calls” checkbox is still ticked on the line; then look at the SIP trace to see the form in which the number arrives.

The general table of symptoms and causes is in the overview, section “If calls do not go through”.

Frequently asked questions#

Can a Kenyan number be connected to your own PBX at all?#

Yes. The CA guidelines attach licensing to whoever provides the communications service: the seller of the trunk must be an ASP licensee, while the venue's corporate station needs no licence. The venue buys the number and the trunk from a licensee or its partner and terminates them on its own PBX.

Why will a Safaricom or Telkom trunk not work?#

Because their service is tied to their own access link, and Safaricom stated directly that the trunk is only connected when the PBX is inside Kenya. Our dedicated PBX sits in a cloud outside the country. Working around this with a “grey” route is not an option: a hidden or substituted calling number is a direct breach of the CA rules.

What should I take if I have no Kenyan legal entity?#

Telxi (sip.telxi.com, registration), AstraQom (local Nairobi numbers, from USD 32 a month) or DIDWW with its local Kenyan trunk. Telnyx has softer requirements than Twilio: an address in any country with proof no older than three months will do, but the use must be a business one.

Do I need a static IP?#

Yes, and a dedicated PBX already has one — the value is shown on the “Server” tab. Cloud One puts it on its whitelist and Africa's Talking builds its whole authorisation mode on it. Even with ordinary registration, providers usually ask for the address up front.

Can I present someone else's number on outbound calls?#

No. The CA rules require the full details of the calling party to be presented, and a breach falls under the 1998 communications act with sanctions up to revoking the provider's licence. In the “Present as” field, use only numbers issued to you by your provider.

Do I have to warn guests that the call is recorded?#

Yes. The 2019 data protection act applies under ODPC supervision, and in a Kenyan case against a telecom operator recording without consent cost KES 700,000 in compensation. A voice notice at the start of the call is mandatory.

How long does connection take?#

With Cloud One the trunk credentials arrive within one business day of the application and documents, with AstraQom activation takes 1–3 business days, and with Telxi you create the trunk yourself in minutes. With carriers it is weeks: a contract, the last mile and the provisioning order.

Sources#

• CA — Revised Guidelines for the Implementation and Provision of VoIP Services, 2021 (VoIP classification, mandatory CallerID, type approval) — https://repository.ca.go.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/422/Revised-VoIP-guidelines-2021.pdf (10.09.2026)
• CA — Telecommunication Numbering Plan for Kenya, April 2024 (number formats, carrier series, 999/112) — https://www.ca.go.ke/sites/default/files/CA/Numbering%20Plan/Telecommunication%20Numbering%20Plan%20for%20Kenya%20April%202024.pdf (10.09.2026)
• CA — Market Structure (unified licensing framework, the ASP category) — https://www.ca.go.ke/market-structure (10.09.2026)
• CA — Guidelines for Provision of Mobile Number Portability Services in Kenya, 2018 — https://www.ca.go.ke/sites/default/files/2023-06/Guidelines-for-the-Provision-of-Mobile-Number-Portability-Services-in-Kenya-2018.pdf (10.09.2026)
• ODPC — Guidance Note for the Communication Sector — https://www.odpc.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ODPC-Guidance-Note-for-the-Communication-Sector.pdf (10.09.2026)
• Cloud One — Firewall Configuration for Cloud One SIP Trunks (hosts, ports, whitelist) — https://www.cloudone.co/knowledge/article/113 (10.09.2026)
• Cloud One — government requirements for a number — https://www.cloudone.co/knowledge/article/23 (10.09.2026)
• Cloud One — SIP Trunks in Kenya (products and channels) — https://www.cloudone.co/sip-trunk-solutions-in-kenya (10.09.2026)
• Yeastar — certified SIP trunk providers, Kenya (Cloud One, Telxi: modes, codecs, DTMF) — https://www.yeastar.com/itsp-partners/kenya/ (10.09.2026)
• Africa's Talking — What do I need to set up a SIP trunk connection? — https://help.africastalking.com/en/articles/6049012-what-do-i-need-to-set-up-a-sip-trunk-connection (10.09.2026)
• Africa's Talking — Pricing — https://africastalking.com/pricing (10.09.2026)
• Telxi / Intergo — How to connect your SIP Trunk to 3CX or other PBX (sip.telxi.com, 5060 UDP, E.164) — https://intergo.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/43000707929-how-to-connect-your-sip-trunk-to-3cx-or-other-pbx (10.09.2026)
• AstraQom — Kenya SIP Trunks for your PBX (pricing, lead times) — https://www.astraqom.com/ke/kenya-sip-trunks/ (10.09.2026)
• Telkom Kenya — Business SIP Trunk — https://telkom.co.ke/business/sme/fixed-voice/business-sip-trunk/ (10.09.2026)
• Jamii Telecommunications — Faiba SIP — https://sips.jtl.co.ke/ (10.09.2026)
• Iristel Kenya — SIP Trunking (pricing in KES, contacts) — https://kenya.iristel.com/business/voice/sip-trunking (10.09.2026)
• Liquid Intelligent Technologies — Unified Communications / SIP Trunking — https://liquid.tech/services/unified-communications/ (10.09.2026)
• Telnyx — Kenya DID Requirements — https://support.telnyx.com/en/articles/5466736-kenya-did-requirements (10.09.2026)
• Twilio — Kenya regulatory guidelines — https://www.twilio.com/en-us/guidelines/ke/regulatory (10.09.2026)
• DIDWW — SIP Trunking Services in Kenya — https://www.didww.com/voice/global-sip-trunking/Kenya (10.09.2026)
• CommPeak — SIP Trunking Kenya — https://www.commpeak.com/services/sip-trunking/kenya/it (10.09.2026)
• 3CX Forums — Safaricom SIP Trunk on 3CX (the carrier's answer, “only if the PBX is in Kenya”) — https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/safaricom-sip-trunk-on-3cx.114481/ (10.09.2026)
• Call Experts — a guide to applying for a Safaricom trunk and the One Connect packages — https://callexperts.co.ke/safaricom-sip-trunk-the-ultimate-guide-for-businesses-in-kenya/ (10.09.2026)

Related pages#

• Connecting a provider's number to your PBX — the common steps, trunk modes, network and connectivity checks.
• Setting up SIP phones — how to connect desk phones, DECT and ATA gateways to extensions.