Mobile phone firms step up hunt for subscribers with new products

A wide dealership network that offers its subscribers access to the company’s products such as airtime and M-Pesa has been one of the key pillars of Safaricom’s market leadership with 78 per cent of the voice market, and the swap is being seen by analysts as a strategy by Telkom Kenya to reverse its dwindling subscriber base.

Number portability is set to enable consumers to change service providers without losing their favourite phone numbers—removing attachment to user numbers or fear of losing contact with business partners and friends from standing in the way of those who would like to move to other networks.

CCK says number portability should enhance competition and consumer convenience in the telecommunication sector by “enabling consumers to retain their user numbers whenever they decide to change service providers.”

That means subscribers do not have to invest in new SIM cards to enjoy the services of other operators.

However, even after the industry regulator-CCK picked a firm that will manage the service Operators in rolling out the number portability exercise, telecoms are raising the bar by rolling out incentives to woo and keep their subscribers.