Mobile phone firms step up hunt for subscribers with new products

Mobile service providers have stepped up the hunt for new subscribers, while locking in the existing ones through new products even as they await the enforcement of the number portability system.

Bharti, the new owners of Zain, have rolled out a campaign to reach out to rural subscribers though customised tools such as running a joint venture with fertiliser companies and on-line veterinary services, similar to what it is doing in India.

They have also launched an advance airtime credit facility, Kopa Credo and a call- back service similar to Safaricom’s Please Call Me, hoping to secure their subscriber base and attract new customers.

Telkom Kenya has also announced plans to unveil its money transfer service, Orange Money, joining Yu, Zain and Safaricom which already have the product—as well as launch its 3G services in the fourth quarter of the year.

“Such services enhance operators’ ability towards achieving the coveted customer loyalty price that determines who controls the greatest market share,” said Vincent Mutavi, an IT expert.

The Kopa Credo service goes a notch higher than Safaricom’s Okoa Jahazi because it allows subscribers to get Sh20, Sh50 or Sh100 worth of airtime. Safaricom has a fixed rate of Sh50.

Both networks levy a 10 per cent interest charge on the facility, which besides earning interest income to the company helps in pushing airtime sales and locking subscriber to a network.

“The Kopa Credo service is open to all subscribers who have been on our network for at least three months. The amount of credit that a customer qualifies for will be dependent on an automated credit score vetting,” said Rene Meza, the managing director of Zain Kenya.

Telecoms experts reckon that the credit facility is aimed at encouraging subscribers to purchase the operators airtime and reduce the risk of buying the competitors’ airtime.

The launch comes after Zain, in partnership with Mi-Pay rolled out  an international mobile airtime top-up service that will enable people living in the diaspora to buy airtime for their relatives and friends in the 15 countries that it operates in, a move aimed at tapping into the increase in foreign remittances to Kenya to grow airtime sales.

Zain Kenya moved further to capture a larger share of the mass market—a strategic shift seen as necessary for the company to cement its future earnings — by introducing a new low calling rate that will allow its customers to enjoy a flat rate of six shillings to call across networks, 24 hours a day.

SIM card registration

According to statistics from global watch body WCIS, Zain Kenya controls 10.6 per cent of the market, second to Safaricom that has 78 per cent while the two new entrants, Telkom’s Kenya Orange and Essar’s Yu, have 5.6 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.

But this is poised to change after Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) releases the official results after the SIM card registration exercise as provisional results indicate that Yu has surpassed Telkom Kenya in subscriber base.

Mobicom, one of Kenya’s largest and most seasoned telecom dealers, estimated to control nearly 10 per cent of Safaricom’s dealership revenue, ended the nine-year contract last month and will instead market the services of Telkom Kenya.

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.