Safaricom slashes Internet prices by 150%.
Press Release
Move is meant to pass the benefits of an improved business and regulatory environment to customers and is in response to the presidential directive on internet pricing.
Beginning today, Safaricom subscribers can enjoy more affordable internet services following a major price reduction as the country’s leading telecommunications company passes on the benefits of an improved business and regulatory environment to its customers.
The reduction has been effected by increasing the data volume for every bundle by up to 150 per cent for the same value. For example a subscriber who pays KShs999/- for 600 MB of data will now get 1500 MB, indicating a more than double increase in data volumes.
The move to lower the data access rates follows yesterday’s meeting between industry players and Government which was held to discuss how best to implement the Presidential directive calling for a review of internet pricing in Kenya. 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 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 up to 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.
According to the new prices issued today, heavy data users will also have the option to subscribe to either a weekly tariff for KShs1,000 or a monthly tariff for KShs3,000. This allows them to manage their data spend and access internet without worrying about their usage.
While announcing the reductions, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said the move was in line with the Safaricom 2.0 culture which puts customer needs at the centre of all the firm’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.”
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.
Mr 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. Mr Collymore stated further, “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”.
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16 Comments
That was a nice move by Safaricom especially for the heavy data users….until you read the Terms and Conditions and realise that the 1,000 per week and 3,000 per month will have 128kbps! And the good-news ends there…! They should have let this one run on their fastest speeds too….and make the customers happy.
I plan to try the 7-days offer to see the speed…otherwise.. complaints will come thick and fast….!
It was a good initial move..!
speeds on the weekly/monthly bundles must be extremely slow
They also made the 1 bob tariff permanent. Big up Safaricom
Orange does speeds of upto 3.4Mbps on its 7 days unlimited bundle at 990/- and this still gets clogged and slow. I shudder at the thought of how slow the 128Kbps that Safaricom will be.
This is turning the trend of price slashing. The other mobile operators are the ones who lower their prices first!
I certainly hope that Safaricom is prepared to handle the increased volumes.
It’s a shame that Safaricom stoops so low. Slashing the bandwidth to 128kbps is really not a trick such a respectable industry player should be resorting to.. smh
Good stuff from them I had already moved to Orange. Lakini if the speed cap on the unlimited bundles is true I will be less impressed.
I must admit Safaricom is now going the right direction; already various location in Nairobi are experiencing 3G network on Airtel, I am sure Safaricom are counter playing Airtel’s strategy. Is the weekly subscription realy unlimited or theqe are hidden terms and conditions?
so what??? yes they have done so..but wow to the mwananchi, who still needs to access application websites. You see safaricom is still a raw deal here guys reason being that, when internet has jumped a notch higher in demand for applications, take a look at the top kenyan marriage site, http://www.lovepot.com , people love it, but still who can afford computers and modems and airtime MBs.Tell those guys to simplify their site..oops..sorry guys. To Safaricom, god forbid, they should invent something new…that will reach all kenyans. Am writing this from the bush where i can heardly access 3g, and so heavy apps like nation newspapers dont load..hope soon they will do something smarter…they should hire me,,i have am idea.
What is the short code to subscribe for the unlimited weekly and monthly? Anyone…?
“To activate this bundle, send an SMS with the preferred bundle price to 450”
For 7 days, you’d type 1000 and send to 450
and
For 30 days, you’d type 3000 and send to 450
I was really disappointed by the speeds as well. SUCKS big time, and i jumped into that new bundle all excited…. only to get sucker punched, you cant even do a simple google search without waiting for hours….. its like wananchi online 10 years ago! … Shame on you Safcom..
[…] One of the key changes that the mobile phone has brought about is the fact that, mobile technology has enabled more and more Africans to come online. While most Africans do not have the luxury of owning a home computer or having access to a desktop computer, the vast majority have access to mobile phones. Mobile data has become a cash cow for mobile network operators across the continent and has also become a key competitive area for the operators. For example, very recently, in Kenya, the largest MNO, Safaricom made a move to slash internet tariffs by up to 150%. […]
usijaribu kuweka pesa kwa hii kitu…the speeds are terrible, it took me 1 hr to download iTunes and it takes like forever to watch you tube clips…bure kabisa…guys stick to your orange modems, hii ni uongo na ukora gani safaricom wameanza nkt.
A respectable company such as Safaricom resorting to marketing gimmicks leaves a lot to be desired. They should make it clear that they have reduced the prices but limited the speeds. In retrospect nothing has changed since the quality of the service has now gone down. Kenya should make 1 Mbps internet a human right to ensure quick and easy access thus enhancing our stature as a knowledge society.
Can someone please inform me on what has happened in terms of infrastructure or regulation changes that may have occasioned to this move. Especially as other mobile service providers like Orange also seemed to have a cheaper internet access offer.