Kenya’s telecommunications giant, Safaricom, has reduced the prices of its 4G Wi-Fi routers by 40 percent making Safaricom home WI-FI one of the most competitive products in the market in an effort seen by analysts as a move to catch up with the stiff competition from other players.
ADRIAN router is now going for 5,999 shillings, down from 9, 999 shillings. The HUAWEI router which was retailing at 10,999 shillings is now priced at 6,999 shillings. The company is also offering a 30 GB FREE data Welcome Bundle valid for 30 days, on every router purchase.
The different packages range from as low as 2,999 shillings for 90 GB monthly data volume to 12,499 shillings for up to 4000 GB of data a month. All packages are capped at 5Mpbs.
Safaricom went ahead of rivals in rolling out the 4G network in the country in 2014 before declaring the network coverage available in all corners of the country by December 2017.
The network gave the telco the ability to provide its advanced data services to an affluent market that was by then being served by fiber-to-home providers like Jamii Telecommunications (trading as Faiba) and Wananchi Group (trading as Zuku).
The raft of changes comes after Safaricom announced that it is set to become a purpose-led technology firm by 2025. The company is currently making inroads into Ethiopia with customers signing up with each passing day.
With a population of approximately 120 million people and financial inclusion at about 35 percent, 57 percent mobile penetration, and annual inward remittance of about $4.2 billion, Ethiopia offers a great opportunity to grow the business to the Kenya level in 10 years according to Safaricom’s management.
As of February 2023, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC had penetrated around 10 percent of the population. This translates to over 11 million people, 847 network sites in 25 cities, onboarded 28,000 retailers, 103 distributor shops, and 5,000 acquisition agents. The company had also crossed the 2 million mark in customer gross additions.
