Postpaid customers shun Safaricom, Telkom in favour of Airtel

•Despite commanding the postpaid segment, Safaricom dropped by 1,518 customers from the tariff to post 1,136,430 subscribers in the period.

•The total number of postpaid customers grew to 1,275,484 in the third quarter of year from 1,253,415 the second quarter of the year.

The number of mobile subscribers on postpaid tariff increased by 22,069 in three months between January and March 2024, according to the latest data by Communications Authority of Kenya.

This saw the total number of postpaid customers grow to 1,275,484 in the third quarter of year from 1,253,415 the second quarter of the year.

A postpaid mobile tariff is a type of mobile phone plan where customers use their phone services throughout a billing period and are billed at the end of that period for the services they used.

These tariffs typically include a fixed monthly fee that covers a certain amount of voice, text, and data usage, along with additional charges for any usage that exceeds the included amounts.

In the period Airtel emerged as the greatest beneficiary garnering 23,775 postpaid subscribers from 104,467 in the three months to December to 128,242 in the quarter ended March.

Despite commanding the postpaid segment, Safaricom dropped by 1,518 customers from the tariff to post 1,136,430 subscribers in the period. Telkom on the other hand dropped from 11,000 to 10,812.

The Communications Authority Sector Statistics Report for Q3 2023-24, further shows that the number of active mobile (SIM) subscriptions increased to 68.0 million by end of March2024 from 66.7 million subscriptions recorded by end of December 2023.

“This translates to a penetration rate of 132.1 per cent attributed to customer win back campaigns run during the reference period,” CA said.

During the reference period, mobile money subscriptions grew to 38.7 million translating to a penetration rate of 75.0 percent.

Although there was growth in subscriptions, the penetration rate dropped due to review of the denominator on population following the release of the 2024 Economic Survey.

The growth in mobile money is attributed to the removal of withdrawal codes for transactions sent from M-Pesa to Airtel Money, which means that funds can now be transferred directly into the Airtel Money account (wallet).

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).