Mobile subscriptions and SMS messaging on the rise in Kenya

Kenya’s mobile phone subscriptions grew by 5.6% to 32.2-million at the end of the fourth quarter ending June 2014. This translates into a mobile penetration level of 79.2%. The number of new subscriptions registered during the period was 416 390.

According to a report by the East African country’s Communications Authority, in addition to mobile penetration, data internet subscriptions reached 14-million, up from 13.3-million in March. Mobile data/internet subscriptions continued to dominate overall data subscriptions with 13.9-million subscriptions.

Other data obtained from the research was that mobile money transfer subscriptions declined from 26.7-million in March to 26.6-million in June. Even in the face of that decline however, the number of agents grew by 4.8% in the same period to reach 109 286.

The report revealed that subscribers had during the quarter period preferred to send an SMS rather than make a phone call. The rise of SMS messages sent increased from 6.2-billion to 6.8-billion, with each subscriber sending out an average of 71.2 messages per month — up from 65.1 messages reported in the last quarter. Total mobile voice traffic declined by four percent during the quarter to register 7.3-billion minutes down from 7.6-billion minutes in the last quarter.

When it comes to wars of service providers, at 68% with over 21. 9-million subscribers, Safaricom still holds the largest market share followed by Airtel Kenya at 16% market share with over five millions subscribers.

What also increased was pre-paid subscriptions. The pre-paid subscriptions increased by 1.1% to post 31. 5-million subscription from 31. 2-million during the last quarter, while post-paid subscriptions grew by 9.6% to reach 665 697 compared with 607 569 recorded during the last quarter.

“The post-paid service exhibited significant growth during the year; this could be attributed to the socio- economic disposition of the mass market which highly influences preferences. Nonetheless, pre-paid subscriptions formed the largest share of the total subscriptions base, contributing 98 percent,” the report says.

Internet users numbers meanwhile increased by three percent to reach 22. 3-million users (up from 21. 6 million). This, the report suggests, is down to an increase in internet subscriptions across the country. That number grew by five percent to reach 14-million this quarter.

“International Internet bandwidth available in the country declined by 2.1 percent to 847,464 Mbps down from 865,714 Mega bytes per second (Mbps) recorded in the last quarter. This decline could be attributed to the reported decrease in capacity by Sea Submarine Communications Limited (SEACOM),” the report states.

Access to internet through mobile devices and tablets maintained an upward trend within the quarter, recording 5.1% growth to stand at 13.9-million subscriptions.

Broadband subscriptions, including mobile modems and 3G subscriptions, rose to 2.9 million from the 2.3 million subscriptions recorded in the last quarter.

The upward trend in the country’s internet market is likely to continue as mobile operators continue expanding their networks and, in dong so, attracting more internet users, the report has indicated. What will also impact the growth is the increasing fibre optic roll out that is likely to boost internet access in the country.