Investment in network infrastructure in the country has seen Airtel Kenya eat into Safaricom and Telkom market shares in the three months to September 2023, according to the latest sector statistics.
Airtel recorded a growth in both mobile broadband subscriptions and the overage market share according to the Communications Authority of Kenya first quarter report, for the financial year 2023/24
In the review period, Safaricom lost 0.4 per cent of its overall market share which shrunk marginally from 66.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022/23 financial year, to 65.7 per cent this quarter.
This came despite the telco posting a 200,000 increase in subscribers.
This was however dwarfed by Airtel which increased its subscribers by 800,000 over the review period from 18.1 million to 18.9 million.
Airtel increased its share from 27.2 per cent to 28.2 percent which saw Airtel customers rise to 18, 932,398.
In the review period, Telekom Kenya lost its share from 3.8 per cent to 3.1 per cent, with numbers closing to 2,110,079.
Equity’s Finserve (Equitel) also lost its market share in the three months to September from 2.3 to 2.2 per cent to command 1,508,285 of the mobile subscriptions.
In the period, however, Equitel overthrew Jamii Telkom which grew subscribers by 0.1 per cent to 0.7 per cent of the overall market share or just 456,277.
“Safaricom PLC and Telekom Kenya limited lost its market share in mobile (SIM) and broadband subscriptions as Airtel gains in both areas,” said CA in the report.
Under the broadband category, Safaricom still commands 61.9 per cent market share, despite being a drop from 62.8 per cent in the last quarter.
Even with increase in subscriptions under this category, Airtel still comes a distant second with 32.7 per cent, a rise from 30 per cent in the last quarter.
Telkom Kenya came third with 2.5 per cent, Equitel 1.6 per cent, and Jamii Telekom 1.3 percent.
During the period July to September 2023, the total number of mobile phones accessing mobile networks stood at 64.67 million, out of which, 32.63 million and 32.04 million were smartphones and feature phones, respectively.
Mobile money subscriptions stood at 38.1 million translating to a penetration rate of 75.2 per cent, which was an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the last quarter’s penetration rate.
During the period, the total local mobile voice traffic rose by 4.0 percent to 22.2 billion minutes from 21.4 billion minutes reported in the last quarter.
In Q1, Airtel Networks recorded the highest average on-net minutes or calls whereas Jamii Telecommunications Ltd recorded the highest off-net minutes/call.
This is attributed to the fair tariffs offered by the two operators.
The minutes of use per subscriber per month maintained an upward trend to a record 110.3 minutes.
This is attributed to the increase in mobile subscriptions as well as the various voice and bundle promotions offered by the service providers during the reference period.
On the other hand, the short messages per subscription per month continued to decline owing to stiff competition from other (OTT) messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and Signal, which continue to gain popularity following increased coverage in broadband.
According to the regulator, Kenya’s ICT sector continued to exhibit an upward trajectory in the adoption of mobile services, propelled by advancements in mobile connectivity and the availability of infrastructure.
Consequently, this has led to faster and more reliable connections.
“We anticipate the continuation of these trends, with increased communication and data usage as we enter the festive season, as consumers connect with their families and friends,” CA said in the report.