Safaricom’s Fixed Data Market Share Rises to 29.6%

Figures from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) have indicated that Safaricom has more than doubled its number for fixed data subscribers, up from 48,267 recorded in 2017 to 109,925 as at the end of 2018.

The increase in the number of subscribers has seen its share in the market segment grow from 16.7 percent in 2017 to 29.6 percent recorded in December 2018.

Wanachi’s market share was at 41 percent in the first quarter of 2017/2018 while that of Safaricom was at 15.2 percent.

As of today, Wananchi Companies’ Zuku claims the biggest market share with a 38.0 percent subscription rate for fixed data, followed by Safaricom and Jamii Telecommunications Limited at 29.6 percent and 13.8 percent respectively.

Data from the CA indicates the total number of fixed data subscribers in Kenya rose from 99,643 as at the end of December 2017 to 175,824 recorded at the end of last year.

Going by the trend recorded over the past two years, Zuku is set to lose the top spot in one of the few remaining market segments in the telecommunications industry not dominated by Safaricom.

Read Also: Africa at a Glance: Ethiopian Airlines to Fly to Mogadishu as Zuku Considers Leaving Kenya

In October 2018, Bloomberg reported that Zuku’s parent firm was looking to exit the Kenyan market and had contracted US consultant Lizard Limited to work on the modalities of a potential sale plan.

In 2018, Safaricom reduced home data prices by 53 percent in an effort to increase its customer share.

Safaricom also made better its customer experience while using its fixed data by including mobile data, calls and home insurance in its home data services.

Read Also: Safaricom Home Fibre Now Inclusive of Mobile Data, Calls and Home Insurance

Currently, Safaricom’s Home Fibre service has passed more than 213,000 homes across the country and is available in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Thika, Bungoma, Kitale, Nyeri, and Nanyuki among other towns.

Safaricom already leads in mobile data subscriptions where it commands 69.5 percent of the market followed by Airtel Network Limited with 22.4 percent market share.