Safaricom online subscribers have access to more affordable Internet services following a major price reduction for the Kenyan market.
The reduction is based on increasing the data volume for every bundle by up to 150%. For example a subscriber who pays around $12 for 600 MB of data will now get 1500 MB, indicating a more than double increase in data volumes.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore says the move was in line with the Safaricom 2.0 culture, which puts customer needs at the centre of all the company’s actions.
“We are continuously reviewing our value proposition to ensure that our customers enjoy unrivalled communication services at the most affordable rates while expanding the options available to them.”
“Safaricom is sensitive to the strain placed on our customers’ finances by the obtaining high cost of living and hence our effort to ease this by passing the benefits of an improved working environment by lowering our prices,” says Collymore.
The move to lower the data access rates follows a meeting held between industry players and Government, to discuss the best way to implement Internet pricing in Kenya.
The unprecedented price reduction is expected to further underline Safaricom’s leadership in the data market in Kenya. Besides being a major investor in infrastructure, Safaricom has also taken the lead in developing local content to make the Internet more useful to Kenyans.
Today, nine out of 10 regular Internet users rely on the Safaricom’s network, which consists of Kenya’s fastest 3G network, a growing WiMAX footprint and the widest data and voice network coverage across the country.
Collymore thanked the CCK and Ministry of Information for leading by example in addressing the industry’s concerns regarding the macro issues affecting the pricing of Internet access in the country.
“We see this improved offering as the first phase of our data strategy and we are confident that as the Government follows through on its commitments to address our remaining concerns, we shall pass on additional benefits to the consumer,” says Collymore.
Kenya e-Government
President Mwai Kibaki made the directive two weeks ago when he launched the government open data website (www.opendata.go.ke), which aims to boost transparency in governance and empower citizens with relevant information.
It further follows commitments made by the industry regulator, Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) and the Ministry of Information and Communication to lower spectrum fees and review the overall spectrum policy for industry players by end next of month.
The government has also undertaken measures to address the rampant fibre vandalism, which has been a huge cost to the industry, as well as classify ICT infrastructure as national utilities to bring the sector on par with power and water providers.
The new guidelines are expected to allow for compensation by local authorities and public works bodies for damage occasioned to ICT infrastructure during road or sewer construction.
The heavy data users will also have the option to subscribe to either a weekly tariff for $ 12 or a monthly tariff of $36. This allows users to manage their data spend and access Internet without worrying about their usage.
Brian Adero
But Safaricom are thieves! The first few weeks are free and the speeds are 1mbs but when the service expires the speeds slow down to 60kbs download. This is a fact and theY wont tell you. I am sticking with Orange; always dedicated but not thieves