Telecommunications powerhouses; Airtel and Telkom have reportedly achieved significant gains on competitor; Safaricom in the mobile data market for the quarter to September 2020 a period which saw the mobile data market increase to an impressive 43.5 million subscribers.
In data by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for the period of July 2020 to September 2020 it was revealed that telecommunications giant; Safaricom lost as much as 1.2 percentage points in market share of total subscriptions for mobile data. Even with the drop however, Safaricom still remained far ahead with an impressive 67.5 percent of the total mobile data subscribers.
Airtel increased its market share to a formidable 26.8 percent and Telekom increased its market share to 5.4 percent.
Airtel and Telekom had not to long ago, tried to carry out a merger in a bid to become a more formidable competitor to market leader; Safaricom. The merger failed with Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya stating that the unacceptable conditions which were placed on the proposed merger along with delays in the receiving of regulatory approvals, were the cause.
Equitel on the other hand, had the lowest market share with 0.3 percent after losing 0.1 percentage.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) via its statistical data revealed that, “Safaricom PLC lost 1.2 percentage points in market shares for mobile data subscriptions to record the highest share at 67.5 percent. On the other hand, Airtel Networks Limited and Telkom Kenya Limited gained by 0.8 and 0.4 percentage points to record 26.8 and 5.4 percent shares, respectively.”
Mobile data currently constitutes 98.5 percent of Kenya’s total internet Market. It grew in 2020 as a result of the launch and implementation of numerous measures aimed at stopping the spread of the Coronavirus. These measures included ensuring that schooling and working was carried out from home as much as possible.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) also made it known that the data market went through positive growth with an increasing dependence on digital platforms for learning, work, healthcare, shopping and entertainment. It added that office and home internet installations and connections saw an increase as well.
Are there any other topics, news, devices, or categories that you would like us to write on? Feel free to reach out to Mpesa Pay in the comment section.
