Wireless Federation

Safaricom gains stock value with increase in subscriber base (Kenya)

On 01.13.12, In Mobile, By Editor

Safaricom, a leading mobile network operator in Kenya, has added maximum number of subscribers in the second quarter of 2011, causing its share price to rise. According to reports, the stock rose 1.7 percent from US$ 0.033 on 30 December 2011 to US$ 0.034 on 6 January 2012.

As per sources, the Communications Commission of Kenya revealed that Safaricom is currently the most dominant operator in Kenya with a market share of 67.7 percent. Further, the Commission has reportedly stated that Safaricom added the highest number of new customers at 593,177 followed by Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd., with 557,567 new subscriptions in the quarter ending September. Also, Essar Telecom Kenya Ltd., added 46,742 new customers while Telkom Kenya Ltd., added 16,683 new users.

Safaricom to launch fibre-optic network (Kenya)

On 11.11.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Kenya’s dominant mobile network operator, Safaricom, has reportedly announced that it plans to roll out its own independent fibre-optic network, in an attempt to strengthen its position in the mobile data market, and reduce its dependence on the declining voice market.

According to reports, Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom has said that this move is a part of their strategic decision to be the regional leader in broadband provision. He added this new direction will offer them greater control of the quality of service offered to their customers. As per sources, the operator is on the lookout for a company to build and maintain the inland network expected to cost US$10.22 million.

As per sources, Safaricom activated a fibre-optic link between Nairobi and Mombasa in February last year, using infrastructure leased from the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) for $ 2.9 million.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Data • fibre-optic • Kenya • Safaricom • Voice revenue

Safaricom hikes call rates for the first time in 11 Years (Kenya)

On 10.14.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Safaricom Ltd., Kenya’s largest mobile-phone operator, has increased all voice tariffs by one shilling citing increasing inflation and the weakening currency. As per reports, Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom, said that this is the first time in Safaricom’s 11-year history that they have had to effect a price increase on retail voice tariffs. He said that they have set out to run a sustainable business and they have to charge a price which makes sense for their customers as well as shareholders.

Sources claim that rates will rise by an average of 1 shilling per minute, further, calls between Safaricom users will climb to 4 shillings (USD 0.04) and calls by subscribers to rival networks will rise to 5 shillings (USD 0.048). The new tariffs have the maximum impact on users making international calls. Safaricom has raised the call charges by three times for calls made to US, Canada and India which combined constitute for as much as 60 percent of all international calls made by Kenyans. The inflation rate in Kenya climbed to 17.3 percent in September, while the shilling fell 19 percent against the dollar, making it the world’s most underperforming currency.

As per reports, the number of mobile-phone users in Kenya grew at the fastest pace in at least a year, rising 12 percent to 25 million, in the three months through December as the cost of calls fell.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Bob Collymore • Canada • India • Kenya • Safaricom • tariff hike

African mMoney revenue to grow to $3 bn in 2015

On 03.29.11, In Mobile, By Editor

A new study has revealed that in Africa, mMoney operator revenue as a percentage of total operator revenue will continue to rise to more than 5% in 2015, representing a nearly US$3 billion opportunity.

While Safaricom’s M-Pesa in Kenya has long been the lone success story in the mMoney universe, researcher can now see success being replicated in Uganda and Tanzania with similar mobile money offerings.

MTN Uganda’s MobileMoney service accounts for 3% of all airtime sold on its network, and Vodacom’s M-Pesa service in Tanzania currently has 6 million subscribers with exponential growth of 600% experienced in the past year alone.

From the beginning of March, mMoney offerings remain limited and are concentrated in just 22 of the more than 50 African countries.

Researchers believe that the African mobile money market has the potential to grow to a money-making market, but operators, banks and regulators need to work toward developing an enabling environment for business models that meet service providers’ revenue demands and offers needed by mMoney services to end users.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Africa • African mMoney revenue • Kenya • M-Pesa • mMoney • Mobile • MobileMoney service • MTN Uganda • Safaricom • Tanzania • Uganda • Vodacom

Safaricom makes management changes (Kenya)

On 03.25.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Safaricom has made changes in its management, which includes the departure of Chief Technical Officer, John Barorot and Chief Information Officer, Robert Mugo.

The new organizational structure is intended to improve service delivery efficiency.

According to CEO Bob Collymore, the new structure would result in various departments being merged. The reorganization includes creation of the Consumer Business Department, Financial Services Department and the Enterprise Business Department as the three main revenue streams.

As per the changes, Peter Arina, who was previously CCO, becomes GM for consumer business; Betty Mwangi, formerly head of M-Pesa, becomes GM for financial services.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Betty Mwangi • CEO Bob Collymore • chief information officer • Chief Technical Officer • Consumer Business Department • Enterprise Business Department • Financial Services Department • John Barorot • Kenya • management changes • operator • Robert Mugo • Safaricom

Safaricom says set to launch MNP (Kenya)

On 03.22.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Safaricom Kenya has stated that it is ready to launch the MNP services (Mobile number portability) ahead of the April 1 deadline.

According to CEO Bob Collymore, Safaricom has aligned all the critical systems and is ready to implement the protocol from the April 1 date as set by the Communications Commission of Kenya. Safaricom hopes that other operators are equally prepared. He stated that inter-operator tests carried out so far by Safaricom and one of the operators as instructed by the CCK had shown a system that works.

He hoped that tests with other operators will be comparable and welcomed mobile subscribers to take advantage of the new protocol to migrate and enjoy Safaricom’s proposition. Porting subscribers are expected to pay a fee of US$2.34 to Porting Access, the company appointed to administer the porting process.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Bob Collymore • CCK • CEO • Communications Commission of Kenya • Kenya • MNP • Mobile Number Portability • operator • Porting Access • Safaricom

Telkom Kenya selects ZTE for 3G launch

On 03.17.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Telkom Kenya, controlled by France Telecom’s Orange has stated that it has selected China’s ZTE Corp to launch its 3G network countrywide.

According to Telekom’s Chief Executive Mickael Ghossein, the company will invest US$46.56 million in the network to improve its market standing, and the service is expected to be up and running at the end of the first half of 2011. They expect the roll out to be complete by latest May, and the launch should be in June this year.

The company has 1,500 sites on 3G across East Africa’s biggest economy and stated its customers would enjoy speeds that could enable them download a song from the Internet in less than a minute.

Telkom aims to double its subscribers to about 4.6 million by year-end, in line with its overall goal to become the country’s No. 2 player by 2015 after market leader Safaricom.

The company acquired the 3G licence, the country’s third, for $10 million in November last year, after the country’s telecoms regulator reduced the price from $25 million.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: 3G • Africa • chief executive Mickael Ghossein • China • France • France Telecom • Kenya • Mobile • Orange • Safaricom • Telkom Kenya • ZTE

Safaricom partners with Alepo for 4G services in Kenya

On 03.02.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Safaricom has selected Alepo to implement its award-winning 16e AAA server and DHCP server as part of its nationwide WiMAX network.

According to Jonathan Garini, Alepo Vice President of Products, a high-performing AAA server is a fundamental element of any mobile WiMAX solution, enabling advanced policy control as well as secure authentication and provisioning of subscribers to the network. Alepo’s standards-based AAA server, with successful deployments worldwide, assures Safaricom of a proven, feature-rich solution.

For advanced IP address management, including support for IPv4 and IPv6, Safaricom will deploy Alepo’s DHCP Server. The server automatically provisions IP addresses to CPEs, either dynamically or statically for services requiring static IPs. The ability to segment and allocate IP addresses via IP pools prompts greater resource optimization.

In addition, Alepo will provide integration with Safaricom’s existing CRM system, allowing the mobile network operator to provision and manage both WiMax and GSM subscriber accounts from one centralized and familiar CRM interface, thus reducing operational and training expenses.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: 16e AAA server • AAA • Alepo • CRM • DHCP server • GSM • IPv4 • IPv6 • Jonathan Garini • Mobile • Safaricom • Vice President of Products • WiMAX • WiMAX network

Mobile operators bet upon Africa broadband

On 02.10.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Mobile operators in Africa are betting that broadband via a cheaper mobile device can deliver explosive growth and help transform economies.

While mobile firms in developed markets have long seen mobile broadband as a lucrative add-on service, Africa’s limited internet infrastructure means that mobile phones are becoming the point of entry for high-speed Internet.

Big shots of the Industry such as South African group MTN, Indian operator Bharti Airtel and France Telecom’s Orange unit, as well as smaller firms like South Africa’s unlisted Cell C, are ramping up investments to win the new battleground of high-speed internet via mobile phones.

According to Karel Pienaar, Managing Director of MTN South Africa, for many consumers, their first internet experience is via a mobile handset — and this is the next revenue frontier for African markets.

Telecoms research firms expect non-voice revenue in Africa, including short messaging services, to hit $10 billion by 2014, from about $5 billion now. Mobile broadband still accounts for a small fraction of industry revenue, but its contribution is growing rapidly and is now helping to boost revenues at African operators.

MTN, Vodafone’s Vodacom and Kenya’s Safaricom have pointed to the rising smartphone and mobile internet use as partly helping the earnings last year.

MTN recently delivered a 46% rise in first-half data revenue to US$413.2 million, while rival Vodacom posted data growth of 41%.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Africa • Bharti Airtel • Broadband • Cell C • cheaper mobile device • France • France Telecom • India • Karel Pienaar • Kenya • Managing Director of MTN South Africa • Mobile • Mobile Operators • MTN • Orange • Safaricom • South Africa • Vodacom • Vodafone

Bharti Airtel to add 16 tower companies in Africa

On 02.10.11, In Mobile, By Editor

As a part of a turnaround business plan, Bharti Airtel is planning to incorporate tower companies in each of the 16 African countries it operates in. As per the company’s officials, Airtel aims to use the new companies to promote infrastructure sharing, in a bid to optimize the costs of operating in Africa through avoiding duplication of infrastructure.

Loss related to Bharti’s Africa business was at US$724.38 million in the quarter that ended on Dec 31.

Bharti has cut prices in 10 out of 16 African nations to boost usage and is looking for long term growth rather than turning a quick profit on the continent, a move that is hurting rivals such as Kenya’s Safaricom. To help foster sharing, the tower companies will be managed independently from Bharti’s consumer business.

As part of the cost-cutting drive, the company is also planning to spread automation systems, such as its Easy Recharge credit top-up service, across the African units.

Sales from Bharti’s African operations grew upto 8.6% to US$911 million in the December quarter, but its EBITDA margins narrowed to 21% from 24%.

Apparently, Indian consumer goods makers are scrambling to buy assets in Africa, applying their knowledge of challenging, lower-income markets to a continent where spending power is on the rise.

Improved prospects in Africa and the launch of 3G services in India have brightened the outlook for Bharti Airtel after currency losses led to a bigger-than-forecast drop in the quarterly profit.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Africa • Bharti Airtel • cost-cutting drive • Easy Recharge • EBITDA margins • India • Kenya • Mobile • Safaricom • top-up service • USA