Kenya’s Telecom Rivals Intensify Competition With Data Offering

Kenya’s telecommunications industry is undergoing a massive transformation with the entry of Jamii Telecom Limited (JTL) as the fourth mobile network operator (MNO) after unveiling its 4G offering.

Faiba Mobile, this will be JTL’s next frontier after pursuing broadband connectivity in the corporate, home and retail market segments in Kenya.

The new entrant with the prefix 0747 will have to own its space with increased competition in the data market where telecom giant Safaricom reigns supreme growing its mobile data and the home internet market with Safaricom Home.

“Voice is data to us. What we want to do is democratise the access of data communication in Kenya. Within our network you will call for free and the quality we have is High Definition (HD). The catch is that you have to have a valid bundle,” said Joshua Chepkwony the JTL during the launch.

On the other hand, “Data and fixed data, and M-pesa will continue to drive growth for the future. They are becoming the engines of growth,” Safaricom’s Chief Financial Officer Sateesh Kamath during the firm’s financial results for the six months ended September 30, 2017.

Telkom Kenya has  4G coverage in over 32 towns and urban centres since its rebranding.
In November, it ventured into the Home Segment by introducing home data bundles, for home users with 4G.

“Our aim is to provide the highest quality network with the most competitive data bundles to power a moving Kenyan,” said Aldo Mareuse, the CEO.

The Communications Authority latest data shows the number of internet broadband subscriptions increased by 42.6 percent to 15.4 mn from 10.8 mn recorded in Q4’2016. On a quarterly basis, the internet broadband subscriptions grew by 12.4 percent from 13.7 mn recorded previous quarter.

This is attributed to the affordability of smartphones in the country as well as affordable internet bundles offered by various internet service operators.

JTL’s new offering includes: 1GB data bundles(KSh50) -valid for one day, 70GB (KSh3,000)- valid for a month and 210 GB (KSh6,000).

Safaricom 150MB (KSh50) -valid for a day, 1GB (KSh500)-valid for a month and 12GB (KSh3,000) -valid for a month.

Airtel’s 1GB 24-hour data bundle (KSh99, 6GB (KSh1,000) -valid for a month and 24GB (KSh3,000)- valid for a month.

As the telcos continuously invest more in improving their networks through innovation, improving their latency in  the networks, real-time and reliable service, Safaricom’s CEO Bob Collymore on their future growth is of the view that “For equitable growth in the sector, (Safaricom) feels it is important that our competitors are held up to to the same stands so that our policy of sustained investment is not punishment.”

He notes “While Safaricom’s market share in some segments remains high, this has been attained through prudent investments and continuous innovation.”

Dr. Hossein Eslambolchi, Open Lab Technical Advisor at Facebook in his ‘Tech Perspectives for the Next 15 years: and why they matter urgently’, “We are moving into an era of high definition everything and we’ll need 4G and 5G networks to provide the necessary quality of service and reliability. If people are unhappy with one service provider, they’ll churn.”

“Lots of network providers are not investing enough in the provision of bandwidth to meet this situation and things are only going to get worse when they start losing customers as well,” he adds.

Across Africa “Internet access infrastructure is no longer the roadblock to Internet adoption that it once was…mobile broadband is now available to a far higher proportion of the population that are using it,” according to the latest report from the Internet Society because of the near-ubiquitous coverage of mobile cellular networks for voice.

Aldo Mareuse, Telkom Kenya CEO says, previously, the mainstay of telcos’ top-line, was the voice and SMS but their pace has been outpaced by data.

“The emergence of data as a key strategic area and the next frontier for growth in the industry track similar trends in other developed markets. Data is more than just a luxury today; it helps deliver critical socio-economic benefits,” he says.

“Driven by increased penetration of the smartphone, as affordable entry-level devices become more available, data is shaping up as the new battleground for the industry. Demand for smartphones and data has been substantially driven by an increasing number of tech-savvy, middle-class consumers with substantial disposable incomes,” he adds.

Further, the Ovum TMT intelligence report ‘The Africa Market Outlook 2018 -Moving from communications services to digital services’ forecast that there will be more than 1 billion mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa by the end of 2022, and non-SMS mobile data revenue on the continent will grow at rate of 25.1 percent over the 2016–22 period.

“Data and digital are the main growth prospects for operators in Africa and should be central to their strategies,” the report recommends.

Ovum says the adoption of mobile broadband will grow strongly in Africa over the coming few years, driven by the continued rollout of mobile broadband networks and the increasing affordability of smartphones.

As competition intensifies in the sector, the Internet society notes it is a demand-side issue that can be addressed by making access more affordable and attractive.

Thus, the players in the telco sector will have to look into: Affordability, The cost of access is very important;

Content and services. To increase demand, there needs to be new, locally relevant content and services. Content and services are relevant when they meet local demand, in local languages;

Local content infrastructure is important because hosting content locally makes the pages load faster;

Skills need to be developed. A lack of knowledge as to how to use the Internet can be a significant barrier to its adoption.

Privacy will become a consumer’s biggest concern as technology gets closer to realising service notes Dr. Hossein Eslambolchi, Open Lab Technical Advisor at Facebook.