Wachira Kang'aru
8 October 2008
Nairobi — Orange Mobile, the cellphone service provider, has sweetened the mobile phone pricing war by introducing a one shilling per minute tariff within its network, the lowest ever in Kenya's telecommunication history.
Short messages across all networks will also be charged at the rate of one shilling.
Launching the two-month offer for Orange subscribers, Telkom Kenya CEO Dominique Saint Jean, said the low tariff will help to speed up subscriber acquisition.
"It is an appeal to customers to join our network and help us achieve our growth target," Mr Saint Jean said. Orange, Telkom Kenya's mobile phone brand, was launched in September.
In December last year, French Telecom bought out a 51 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya paying Sh26 billion. It has since invested over Sh8 billion in infrastructure development.
The company will be using the two months to test its network as it seek to improve quality and expand its reach.
Expand reach
Its GSM mobile services are currently only available in Mombasa and Nairobi.
Charges for calls outside the Orange network remain at Sh14 per minute while for calls to the other Telkom Kenya services, Telkom Plus, and its landline, remain pegged at Sh7 per minute.
Late last month, competitor Zain launched the lowest cross-network tariff, Vuka, charging Sh8 per minute.
While Orange shied away from declaring outright war on its competition, Zain left nothing to doubt.
"We do not want to share money with our competition. By lowering tariffs for cross-network calls, we are aiming at the share of their wallet," said Rene Meza, managing director of Zain Kenya.
Safaricom is yet to make any major changes on its charges currently at Sh10 per minute for calls within its network and Sh25 for calls outside its network.
It has however lowered its calling charges to Sh5 per minute for calls within its network between 10pm and midnight.
With the latest developments, consumers are preparing for what promises to be the most exciting times in Kenyan mobile telephony as service providers fight to acquire and retain customers.
The price war is expected to intensify with the coming of Econet Wireless, expected by year's end.
On its part, Telkom Kenya believes its multiple service gives it an edge to drive the market agenda.
"As an integrated solutions provider we have inspired single service providers to begin to focus more on what customers want, and we are pleased to have raised the bar. Ultimately, more choice means wananchi benefit which is always good news," Mr Saint Jean noted.
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