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Kenyan firm wants Internet access to surpass cell phone growth |
Kenya's mobile phone service provider, Safaricom, has rattled competitors in the provision of Internet services,following its launch of the third generation (3G) network services.
The firm has also vowed to rival its own mobile phone penetration.
Safaricom's Chief of Enterprise, Fred Moturi, said on Tuesday the firm had start ed its third generation mobile Internet roll-out, and was initially
targeting to reach at least 10% of the Kenyan population.
Currently, it reaches roughly 350,000 new users annually.
"Kenya is a service industry and the ability to grow the service industry is bas ed on the ability to avail the required technology to facilitate this growth," M o turi told PANA.
Safaricom, East Africa's richest company with an annual sales turnover of US$1 b illion, has shifted its growth target to the mobile Internet segment, rattling i n cumbent player Access Kenya, which has prided itself as a broadband supplier for
corporates.
Kenya's rapidly-growing telecommunication industry saw Safaricom's profits soar ahead of its listing at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), an event which transfo r med the fortunes of the bourse overnight with the market capitalisation jumping u pwards.
The NSE now boasts of the first full-scale telecoms company to be listed.
The listing, 40 days ago, saw the NSE market capitalisation soar to Kenya Shilli ngs 1.2 trillion for the first time in history, having risen from Ksh800 billion
in December 2007.
Safaricom boasts of a customer base of 10 million users, while its closest compe titor, Celtel, has about 4 million customers.
The price wars between the two firms peaked recently, leading to a drastic fall in the cost of mobile phone calls.
Safaricom said its 3G roll out was targeting about 3.5 million users annually, w hich would make it the single biggest supplier.
The telecommunication regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), h as recently shifted to one-package licensing, allowing the issuance of a single l icense to all players to provide a range of services as they want.
Safaricom paid up Ksh25 million for its 3G license at the turn of 2007 to get in to the market and challenge competitors.
"We want to challenge the 1% penetration, that is the concern for us now. We do not care about the fact that there are more players, it is our business model th a t is radically different, the more players we have, the more creative we might g e t," Moturi said.
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