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Kenyans talked for 29.9bn minutes on phones last year [Business Daily (Kenya)](Business Daily (Kenya) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Favourable call rates and intense marketing, marked by tariff promotions, pushed Kenyans to talk more last year compared to 2012. Safaricom, Airtel, yuMobile and Orange subscribers made calls amounting to 29.9 billion minutes last year, up from 27.4 billion minutes representing a growth of 9.1 per cent. The call patterns are contained in the Communications Authority of Kenya's (CAK) latest quarterly report which also shows that subscribers are making longer calls, increasing their monthly usage to 84.1 minutes in the quarter to December compared to 79.6 in a similar period a year earlier. "This growth could be attributed to various promotions and special offers by the operators during the period," said CAK in the report. Promotions and special offers "Moreover, there are various voice bundles available that allow customers to make more calls at discounted rates." The longer calls came in a period which saw mobile phone operators abandon a vicious price war started in 2010 to grow their subscriber bases. Now, the operators are turning to discounts in a bid to retain subscribers and attract new ones. "For instance, one operator offered its pre-pay subscribers whose average monthly usage is Sh200, bonus airtime," says CAK. Safaricom cemented its control of the voice traffic market. It subscribers made calls amounting to 23.6 billion minutes, earning it a share of 78.9 per cent. Airtel came in at a distant second with 3.3 billion minutes or 11 per cent stake, followed by yuMobile at 2.4 billion minutes (eight per cent) with Telkom Kenya customers talking for 600 million minutes (two per cent). Rise in subscriptions This market structure has remained little changed over the past four years, a move that has seen Yu announce an exit with planned asset sales to rivals Airtel and Safaricom. READ: Safaricom, Airtel splash Sh8bn for yu Telkom Kenya, controlled by France Telecom, is looking for an equity partner to strengthen its hand in Kenya's competitive telecom's market. Internet penetration in Kenya for the first time crossed the 50 per cent mark, thanks to an increase in mobile phone subscriptions. The number of internet users stood at 21.2 million in December from 16.2 million in 2012, chiefly due to mobile phone data services through 3G networks, CAK said. Internet penetration stood at 52.3 per cent of the population in December, up from 41.1 per cent in 2012. Most of it was activity on social networking sites mainly by young people. (c) 2014 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |