Customers: The Force That Drove The Airtel-Telkom Merger

Airtel and Telkom are merging, I am sure you must have heard by now, is it good or bad news, that is for you to decide, mine is to share my opinion on the merge based on all the facts I have gathered since the decision came to the limelight.

The hullabaloo surrounding the Airtel Telkom merger has made it impossible to reserve my comment on the subject.

The first thing that goes through anyone’s mind when they hear about the merger is “Great, finally, a strong company will be formed to kill the dominance of one company in the market, as it has been!”

That, however, is not the case.

The coming together of Airtel and Telkom or the Airtel Telkom merger as has commonly been referred to is the best news employees to both companies would have considering that this decision comes at a time when companies in Kenya are retrenching.

The move to have Airtel and Telkom merge is going to see the two companies complement each other’s service delivery which will provide their customers with the best of each.

Speaking to the public when we went out for a vox-pop, we had a number of people say what they expected from the AirtelTelkom merge and one lady’s opinion got me thinking, she hoped there would be more mobile money outlets.

Will the AirtelTelkom merge smoothen their customer’s way of transacting by increasing the mobile money shops to complement the number of Airtel Money outlets in the market? Well, we will have to wait for the merger to see.

Both Airtel and Telkom are known for their strong networks and affordable call rates but weak at innovations and inventions, it is likely that by merging the two companies, the result will strengthen the company’s ability to grow its products.

Is Airtel merging with Telkom to fight one company, not really, the two companies must have thought of their employees and how best to better their products to their customers while making it more convenient for a customer to fully rely on their sim cards fully whether its for calls, internet or mobile money transfers.