Fixed Telephone Service Providers Are Struggling In The Communication Sector

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Mobile phones led to an instant drop in fixed telephone usage. Back in 1990s fixed telephone had incredible traffic since the Telecommunication sector was monopolized by Kenya Telkom. Introduction of mobile phones made many people lose their jobs. Well, despite the fact that mobile phones have crowded the market, some people still trust the old ways.

The decommissioning of Telkom Kenya’s CDMA network has significantly affected the number of fixed line subscribers who have migrated to GSM services. Statistics show that the total number of fixed lines are 87,774 down from 202,961 which was recorded sometimes back. Compared to the previous year, the FY2014-15 recorded a 56.3 per cent decline.

In addition, the total local fixed voice traffic maintained a downward trend this year registering a decline of 16.1 per cent to post 18.7 million minutes. The traffic recorded for the whole year dropped by 33.3 per cent when compared to that reported in the last financial year. Fixed network traffic is expected to drop further in the coming quarters following the shutdown of fixed wireless network by Telkom Kenya.

Also read: Iridium satellite phones given to Kenyan Government for emergencies

Fixed to fixed network traffic dropped by 35.9 per cent to register 324,869 minutes. The traffic recorded throughout the financial year declined significantly to stand at 1.5 million down from 5.2 million minutes registered in the last financial year.

Fixed wireless to fixed wireless traffic dropped considerably to register 588,128 minutes down from 2.7 million minutes registered sometimes back. This service lost by 40.9 per cent in terms of traffic recorded throughout the year when compared to that of the previous year. This significant decline could be as a result of the shutdown of fixed wireless network by Telkom Kenya Limited during the period under review. Likewise, fixed to other networks traffic declined by 9.0 per cent to reach 17.7 million minutes during the quarter. The traffic recorded for the financial year stood at 113.6 million down from 170.3 million minutes reported during the previous year.

International incoming fixed line traffic dropped by 12.9 per cent during the quarter to post 2.3 million minutes from 2.6 million minutes posted last quarter. The volume of traffic recorded for the financial year stood at 10.5 million down from 14.4 million minutes recorded during the last financial year. Similarly, international outgoing fixed line traffic decreased to 2.6 million during the quarter from 3.3 million minutes reported during the previous quarter. The traffic volume for the year decreased by 18.6 per cent to record 13.3 million minutes down from 16.4 million minutes reported last year.

The number of international outgoing VoIP minutes dropped considerably by 95.8 percent to reach 66,252 minutes during the quarter under review down from 1.5 million minutes recorded during the last quarter.

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