Safaricom Finally Reduces Call & Data Rates

In a statement on Monday, December 5, 2022, the firm stated that it was reversing a price increase that was implemented in July 2021.

The move is set to see customers on PostPay and All-in-One plans customers enjoy lesser prices. However, Artel it`s rival market share has been growing on calls.

According to Safaricom's new rate, the Go Monthly 1K plan will now go for Ksh1,000, down from Ksh1,050. Additionally, the 2K plan will go for Ksh2,000 down from Ksh2,100 while the 3K plan will go for Ksh3,000 down from Ksh3,150.

The 5K plan will go for Ksh5,000 down from Ksh5,200 as the 10K plan will now go for Ksh10,000, down from Ksh10,430. Notably, all Go Monthly customers will enjoy free 2GB of YouTube every month.

“By consolidating our monthly plans, we seek to simplify our product offering while enabling our customers to enjoy a digital lifestyle in an affordable manner,” CEO Peter Ndegwa said.

Additionally, according to the CEO of Safaricom, Go Monthly subscribers would be able to contact any local network as well as China, India, the USA, and Canada using their minutes.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. PHOTO FILE.

Ndegwa also said that Safaricom was preparing to launch a device bundling option, allowing Go Monthly users to purchase 4G and 5G devices through a monthly payment plan that includes data, voice, and SMS bundles.

Safaricom`s immediate action comes at a time its dominance of the voice market plunged to a two-year low while that of its rival Airtel rose to a record high - according to information recently released by Communications Authority (CA).

According to the CA analysis, Safaricom's market share decreased to 64.2% in the three months ending in September, a 1.9 percentage point decrease from the comparable period ending in June.

Safaricom`s Rival Competitor Airtel.PHOTO TWITTER

According to the CA report, Airtel increased its market share to a record high of 33.7%, an increase of 1.6 percentage points from the three months ending in June. This helped the telco challenge Safaricom's hegemony by riding on reduced pricing.

Customers used Safaricom's network for 12.14 billion minutes during the study period, a 4.36 percent decrease from the 12.69 billion minutes used during the three months that ended in June, according to the CA report.

6.36 billion minutes were spent by Airtel callers, a 3.8% increase from 6.13 billion minutes in the three months ending in June.

From 70.4% in December of previous year to 67.8% in March, Safaricom has been losing market share.

However,the lower calling rates provided by its rivals, according to CA, were the cause of Safaricom's decline in market share.