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Voice and SMS revenues cut as phone users seek refuge in internet calls

In 2023, mobile services generated Sh384.3 billion in revenue, marking a 13.2 percent increase from 2022.

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by VICTOR AMADALA

Kenya14 October 2024 - 15:40

In Summary


  • This greatly impacted voice and text revenues for mobile network providers in the country, with the minutes of use per Month per subscription dropping to 120.4 minutes in Q4, 2023 compared to123.4 minutes the previous quarter.
  • Similarly, short messages sent per month per subscription declined to 65.4 from 65.8 messages.


More mobile phone users in the country prefer Internet calling and texting to cut communication costs, the end of 2023 report by the Communications Authority shows.

This greatly impacted voice and text revenues for mobile network providers in the country, with the minutes of use per Month per subscription dropping to 120.4 minutes in Q4, 2023 compared to123.4 minutes the previous quarter.

Similarly, short messages sent per month per subscription declined to 65.4 from 65.8 messages.

The report also attributes this to normalizing usage patterns following the busy festive seasons in quarters two and three.

The average minutes per on-net and off-net calls remained at 1.8 and 1.2, respectively.

Safaricom continued to dominate both the voice and SMS markets, accounting for 66.1 and 89.6 percent of voice and SMS respectively.

Airtel accounted for 33.3 percent of voice and 10.3 percent of SMS traffic in the country during the review period.

According to the report, Airtel Networks Limited customers spent more time on a single on-net call averaging 2.8 minutes whereas Safaricom consumers spent more on off-net calls, averaging at 1.4 minutes.

In 2023, mobile services generated Sh384.3 billion in revenue, marking a 13.2 percent increase from 2022.

More mobile phone users in the country prefer Internet calling and texting to cut communication costs, the end of 2023 report by the Communications Authority shows.

This greatly impacted voice and text revenues for mobile network providers in the country, with the minutes of use per Month per subscription dropping to 120.4 minutes in Q4, 2023 compared to123.4 minutes the previous quarter.

Similarly, short messages sent per month per subscription declined to 65.4 from 65.8 messages.

The report also attributes this to normalizing usage patterns following the busy festive seasons in quarters two and three.

The average minutes per on-net and off-net calls remained at 1.8 and 1.2, respectively.

Safaricom continued to dominate both the voice and SMS markets, accounting for 66.1 and 89.6 percent of voice and SMS respectively.

Airtel accounted for 33.3 per cent of voice and 10.3 per cent of SMS traffic in the country during the review period.

According to the report, Airtel Networks Limited customers spent more time on a single on-net call averaging 2.8 minutes whereas Safaricom consumers spent more on off-net call, averaging at 1.4 minutes.

In 2023, mobile services generated Sh384.3 billion in revenue, marking a 13.2 percent increase from 2022.

On the same trend, investment in the mobile sub-sector grew by 20.6 percent, to record Sh70.9 billion in 2023.

The total domestic fixed network traffic stood at 20.2 million minutes during the review period.

The traffic for FY 2023/24 declined by 11.3 percent to post 86.2 million minutes from 97.1 million reported in the previous year.

International incoming and outgoing fixed voice traffic declined by 4.8 and 4.5 percent to record six million and 996,035 voice traffic, respectively during the referenced period.

Internet subscriptions experienced growth driven by increasing reliance on digital platforms for work, education, healthcare, and entertainment, along with attractive tariffs and special offers from service providers.

The total fixed Internet subscriptions grew by 7.4 percent to reach 1.5 million.

Satellite subscriptions recorded a significant growth of 73.1 percent in quarter four and a 1,955.3 percent growth in the financial year.

This growth is attributed to the licensing and subsequent launch of Starlink Internet Services Kenya earlier in the financial year.

Internet customers were mainly subscribed to data speeds between 2Mbps and 10Mbps.

Satellite subscriptions maintained an upward trend following the launch of Starlink services during the year, with 96.9 percent of satellite customers subscribed to speeds between 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps.

Safaricom reported the largest market share of 36.4 per cent followed by Jamii Telecommunications Ltd and Wananchi Group at 24.0 and 17.5 per cent respectively.

Starlink Internet Services Kenya which was licensed earlier in the financial year to provide satellite Internet services had a market share of 0.5 percent as of June 30 2024.

On the same trend, investment in the mobile sub-sector grew by 20.6 percent, to record Sh70.9 billion in 2023.

The total domestic fixed network traffic stood at 20.2 million minutes during the review period.

The traffic for FY 2023/24 declined by 11.3 percent to post 86.2 million minutes from 97.1 million reported in the previous year.

International incoming and outgoing fixed voice traffic declined by 4.8 and 4.5 percent to record six million and 996,035 voice traffic, respectively during the referenced period.

Internet subscriptions experienced growth driven by increasing reliance on digital platforms for work, education, healthcare, and entertainment, along with attractive tariffs and special offers from service providers.

The total fixed Internet subscriptions grew by 7.4 percent to reach 1.5 million.

Satellite subscriptions recorded a significant growth of 73.1 percent in quarter four and a 1,955.3 percent growth in the financial year.

This growth is attributed to the licensing and subsequent launch of Starlink Internet Services Kenya earlier in the financial year.

Internet customers were mainly subscribed to data speeds between 2Mbps and 10Mbps.

Satellite subscriptions maintained an upward trend following the launch of Starlink services during the year, with 96.9 percent of satellite customers subscribed to speeds between 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps.

Safaricom reported the largest market share of 36.4 per cent followed by Jamii Telecommunications Ltd and Wananchi Group at 24.0 and 17.5 per cent respectively.

Starlink Internet Services Kenya which was licensed earlier in the financial year to provide satellite Internet services had a market share of 0.5 percent as of June 30 2024.


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