Equitel was launched two months ago and it’s already gaining ground in Kenya. The newly launched mobile service has created a number of changes with regard to the number of players, subscriptions and shares. I believe the mobile service can dominate the Kenyan market if it introduces better services and lucrative ventures not only in city centers but also in the rural. Truth be told, Equitel offers good quality services hence it provides good internet connection and if you have an Equity account, life becomes even better.
A report was released and Equitel recorded a relatively good market share for mobile subscriptions. Safaricom Limited recorded a market share of 67.0 per cent which was a decline from last quarter’s 67.1 per cent. Bharti Airtel also lost its market share by 0.8 percentage points to stand at 19.4 per cent. Orange Kenya and Equitel on the other hand gained market share by 0.4 and 0.5 percentage points to stand.
Also read:Airtel robs Safaricom and Orange of internet users
In addition, Equitel gained by 0.6 per cent to record 873,643 total subscriptions all of which are on pre-paid. Orange recorded an increase in total subscriptions. The company’s total subscriptions increased from 3.7 million posted last quarter to 4.0 million during the quarter under review. Its pre-paid subscriptions were recorded at 4.0 million while post-paid subscriptions stood at 11,264.
Safaricom has the highest mobile subscriptions. Ideally, if you send a kid to buy airtime he or she will buy Safaricom because it’s still dominating the market and other mobile services are slowly coming up. Airtel Network Limited on the other hand lost the total subscriptions by 0.2 to stand at 6.8 million subscriptions with both pre-paid and post-paid subscriptions declining by 0.1 and 3.0 per cent respectively.
Equitel’s growth indicates that the company will one day dominate the market besides the fact that other mobile services are not friendly on the mobile service. Equitel’s services include voice, text and data services. The rates are relatively friendly.
Generally, Kenya’s mobile market has continued to demonstrate strong growth with the period under review recording 36.1 million mobile subscriptions marking a 3.6 per cent increase from the previous period. This number has also grown by 3.9 million subscriptions when compared to the same period of the previous year that posted 32.2 million mobile subscriptions. This could be attributed to the increased demand for mobile data services, m-commerce, m-banking services and other emerging mobile services. During the quarter under review mobile penetration was recorded at 83.9 percent, representing a decline from the previous quarter that recorded penetration levels of 85.5 per cent.
Also read:Safaricom launches yet another tariff at the break of new operator Equitel
