Zain Group is adopting new strategies to increase its share of the Kenyan mobile phone market this year, media reports from East Africa said today.
The Kuwait’s telecom group says Zain Kenya did not perform well last year because of intense competition from Safaricom.
“The clubbing effect of on-net calls on Safaricom’s network as the country’s dominant operator has put pressure on Celtel’s profitability,” Zain says in its Annual report 2007.
According to East African Standard, the report said it was precisely to counter the competitor’s discriminatory pricing that Zain responded by launching the ‘Uhuru’ (Freedom) campaign with flat rates across all networks.
The group, formerly Mobile Telecommunications Company, said the flat rate also helped influence the Regulator to reduce interconnection rates by 22 per cent and announce future reductions.
The group is now going forward with its plans to secure 95 per cent market coverage this year and make 2008 the turnaround year.
“Zain’s ambition to build a mobile network with the country’s highest population coverage achieved its target of 86 per cent last year and plans are there to meet its goal of 95 per cent coverage this year.”
Customer Base
Available statistics show that Zain Kenya had over 2.1 million active customers at end of last year, representing an 8 per cent increase as compared to that of 2006.
The operation’s customers accounted for 5 per cent of Zain’s total customer base.
The group, which has installed a new management team in Kenya, has already announced plans to use Sh25 billion in the next two years to expand and modernise local operations.
Zain also intends to shift its Africa headquarters to Nairobi, a move interpreted by industry watchers as a proof that the Kenyan operation requires greater hands-on management.
Zain Kenya was acquired in May 2004, and operates in what is considered a highly competitive market with a single commanding competitor – Safaricom – with a 66 per cent market share.
