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Airtel has expanded its presence in the voice market, surpassing Safaricom in the three months leading up to September 2023, thanks to substantial investments in network infrastructure within the country, as indicated by the latest sector statistics.
The first-quarter report for the financial year 2023/24 from the Communications Authority of Kenya reveals Airtel’s growth in both mobile broadband subscriptions and overall market share. During this period, Safaricom experienced a slight decline, losing 0.4 percent of its market share, decreasing from 66.1 percent in the fourth quarter of the 2022/23 financial year to 65.7 percent in the current quarter, despite adding 200,000 subscribers.
In contrast, Airtel demonstrated significant advancement by gaining 800,000 subscribers, increasing its share from 27.2 percent to 28.2 percent. Airtel’s customer base rose to 18,932,398 during the review period.
Telkom Kenya experienced a reduction in its market share from 3.8 percent to 3.1 percent, totaling 2,110,079 subscribers. Meanwhile, Equity’s Finserve (Equitel) saw a decrease in market share from 2.3 percent to 2.2 percent, representing 1,508,285 mobile subscriptions.
Despite a slight increase in subscribers, Jamii Telkom relinquished its market share to Equitel, falling from 0.7 percent to 0.6 percent.
In both mobile (SIM) and broadband subscriptions, Airtel gained market share while Safaricom and Telkom Kenya saw a decrease, according to the CA report.
Although Safaricom still commands a 61.9 percent market share in the broadband category, Airtel made notable progress, securing a 32.7 percent share, up from 30 percent in the previous quarter. Telkom Kenya held 2.5 percent, Equitel 1.6 percent, and Jamii Telekom 1.3 percent in the broadband market.
The report also highlighted that from July to September 2023, the total number of mobile phones connected to mobile networks was 64.67 million. Out of this, smartphones accounted for 32.63 million, and feature phones accounted for 32.04 million.
Mobile money subscriptions reached 38.1 million, with a penetration rate of 75.2 percent, marking a slight increase from the previous quarter.
The period saw a 4.0 percent rise in total local mobile voice traffic, reaching 22.2 billion minutes, while the average on-net minutes per subscriber per month reached a record 110.3 minutes.
SMS per subscription per month continued to decline due to competition from other messaging platforms, and Kenya’s ICT sector displayed ongoing growth in mobile services, facilitated by improved mobile connectivity and infrastructure availability, resulting in faster and more reliable connections, according to the regulator. The report anticipates increased communication and data usage during the festive season.
