According to the latest statistics from Kenya’s Communication Commission (CCK), the country’s mobile subscriber base grew by 4{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10}, which translates into one million new mobile phone subscribers in the first three months of 2012.Kenya’s mobile subscriber base grew by 4{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10}, which translates into one million new mobile phone subscribers (image: file)
Kenya now has a total of 29.2-million mobile subscriptions, compared to only 28.08-million in December 2011. The Commission said that the increase shows that the country’s mobile operators are committed to growing the industry and increasing services. At the end of the first quarter of 2012, Kenya’s mobile penetration stood at 74{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10}, which is 3{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} higher than at the end of December.
According to Nairobi-based Capital FM, “Safaricom got the lion’s share of new subscribers at 71.02 percent, followed by Essar Telecom at 10.01 percent. Telkom Kenya – Orange – recorded a 9.52 percent jump, while Airtel Networks Kenya Limited had the lowest market share of 9.45 percent.”
Although Safaricom saw the largest spike in new subscribers, it was also the mobile operator with highest reduction in market share with 6.13{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10}, while Essar was down 1.02{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} and Airtel 0.55{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10}. Telkom Kenya was the only mobile operator that actually saw a growth in market share, rising 7.70{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10}.
While mobile use in Kenya is on the rise, fixed land lines have not been as fortunate. The country experienced a 4{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} drop in subscription rates, down from 283 546 to 272 101.
But “in the Internet market segment, the number of subscriptions increased by 5.5 percent, from 6.1 million recorded in the previous period to 6.4 million during the quarter under review. Mobile Internet subscriptions continued to dominate the Internet market with 98.8 percent of the total Internet subscriptions being from the mobile Internet sub-market.
The number of Internet users rose by 4.7 percent, from 11.3 million users posted the previous period to 11.8 million users during the quarter under review,” concluded Capital FM.
