Kenyans Sent 11.6 Billion SMSes in Q2 of 2016

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) released Telecommunications Sector statistics for Q2 of 2016.

According to the report mobile subscriptions rose by 3.7 percent to 39.7 million from 38.3 million registered in the previous quarter hence achieving a 10 percent year to year growth with mobile penetration increasing by 0.9 percent to 90 percent from 89.2 percent registered in the previous quarter.

The minutes of use per subscriber per month on the other hand in the industry declined by 3.4 percent to 86, from 89 registered the previous quarter.

The total number of Short Messaging Service (SMS) sent during the quarter increased significantly by 78.5 percent to 11.6 billion messages from 6.5 billion registered in the last quarter. This growth is attributed to the Create Your Plan Bundles SMS tariff that was introduced by Safaricom Limited during the period under review. Similarly, the volume of SMS sent throughout the year grew by 19.9 percent to 31.3 billion messages up from 26.1 billion sent during the previous year.

The number of internet broadband subscriptions increased during the quarter under review to 10.8 million from 7.9 million recorded in the previous quarter attributed to high uptake of internet enabled mobile phones that are affordable and readily available in the market. The broadband penetration closed at 24.5 percent from 18.6 percent.

Internet subscriptions, meanwhile, stood at 26.8 million during the quarter under review up from 24.8 million registered in the previous quarter, resulting into a growth of 8.2 percent. Consequently, the number of internet users grew by 0.8 percent to 37.7 million from 37.4 million registered in the previous quarter. This growth has been mainly attributed to the increased adoption of internet enabled mobile phones supported by expansion of 3G networks.

According to the report, there were market share gains by Safaricom across all categories except mobile subscribers and mobile money.

Airtel’s total mobile subscriptions declined by 2.0 percent to stand at 6.5 million during the period under review from 6.7 million in the previous quarter while the pre-paid subscriptions declined by 2.1 percent and post-paid subscriptions declined by 1.4 percent. Airtel market share by subscriptions dropped by 0.9 percent to 16.6 percent in Q2 of 2016 from 17.5 percent registered in the previous quarter.

Orange Kenya had a subscription growth of 8.9 percent  at 5.2 million up from 4.8 million recorded in the previous quarter while the total number of pre-paid subscriptions grew by 8.9 percent with the post-paid subscriptions growing by 1.8 percent. Orange Kenya’s market share by subscriptions increased by 0.7 percent to 13.2 percent in the quarter under review from 12.5% recorded in the previous quarter.

Safaricom’s subscriber market share declined marginally by 0.4 percent to 65.2 percent while its minutes’ market share increased by 1.0 percent to 77.8 percent. However, the gains in minutes’ market share was on the back of negligible growth in overall industry minutes. Safaricom’s SMS market share increased from 89.9 percent to 93.9 percent on account of its new SMS bundle offers.

The mobile money statistics, however, indicated that Safaricom’s market share of the value of transactions and transaction numbers had declined to 84.3 percent from 91.0 percent and to 81.9 percent from 83.8 percent, respectively. The loss in market share is mainly attributed to Equitel though Equitel is an additional banking channel and hence banking transactions have been included in its market share data whereas Safaricom exclusively focuses on money transfer and payments.

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