Kenya's second largest telecom operator hits record 1.2 million subscribers after Odinga's boycott

david nganga

April 12, 2018 11:16 AM

Safaricom on the other hand recorded a decline in market share in the period under review

Kenyas second largest telecommunications firm Airtel gained 1.2 million new subscribers in the second quarter of the current financial year, according to the latest statistics report by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

The telco recorded a 20 per cent increase in the number of new subscribers, marking the biggest three-month rise in subscribers recorded by any telco in recent years.

“The total number of mobile subscriptions recorded by Airtel rose to 7.3 million subscriptions from 6.1 million,” said a report from the regulator.

The subscriptions, in the quarter to December 2017, came at a time of heightened political activity following the disputed General Election which saw the Opposition ask its supporters to boycott telco giant Safaricom's services in favour of Airtel.

NASA accused Safaricom of influencing the August 8 poll in favour of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Market share

The boycott took a toll on the firm's market share which reduced marginally to 69.1 per cent from 71.9 per cent. The number of its subscribers however rose by 73,800 to sit at 29.5 million.

This suggests that the majority of Airtel’s 1.2 million new subscribers did not discard their Safaricom lines.

Airtel’s market share to 17.2 per cent from 14.9 per cent recorded during the previous quarter.

Likewise, the mobile service provider recorded an increase in mobile voice traffic with a total of 2.5 billion minutes during the quarter, up from 1.9 billion previously. This saw its market share expand by 4.6 per cent to 22 per cent.

david nganga