Telkom Kenya reduces call and SMS charges within East Africa bloc

Telkom Kenya has cut its calling charges for pre-paid customers roaming within East Africa by introducing bundled voice and SMS fees, following in the footsteps of its rivals Safaricom and Airtel.

The bundled package, dubbed Mashariki, offers Orange pre-paid subscribers an opportunity to convert any airtime worth Sh1,000 or Sh500  either for voice services or for SMS services.

This means that Orange pre-paid subscribers can now call for an equivalent of Sh7.70 per minute, down from Sh9 charged for voice, or pay Sh3.80 per SMS down from Sh4.50 under the Sh1,000 airtime bundle plan.

The new Orange charges apply in Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Orange post-paid subscribers will still make calls at Sh9 per minute and Sh4.50 to send an SMS.

Airtel charges its subscribers Sh9 a minute while in Uganda, a 60 per cent drop from Sh23 a minute in Kenya and one shilling less than the charges by rival Safaricom.

Orange said the tariff cut is in response to the East African Community’s goal of lowering the cost of roaming charges in the region in relation to the One Network Area initiative.

The initiative envisages the reduction of international and roaming tariffs to lower the cost of doing business and deepen social integration in the region.

“We want our customers to enjoy uninterrupted service on their travels in either of the three countries. Poor network infrastructure has been the reason for high rates but Mashariki gives subscribers a chance to circumvent that,” said Orange chief corporate communications officer George Mlaghui.

Under the package, a customer gets 70 minutes with 120 SMSs (or up to 130 minutes upon conversion of SMSs to minutes or up to 260 SMSs upon conversion of minutes to SMSs) for every Sh1,000.

For every Sh500 used, a customer gets 30 minutes with 70 SMSs (or up to 65 minutes upon conversion of SMSs to minutes or up to 130 SMSs upon conversion of minutes into SMSs).

Orange prepaid customers will convert their un-used minutes into text messages and vice versa.

The bundle applies to pre-pay Orange Kenya customers while roaming in Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan and for traffic destined only within the visited country.

The bundle will be valid for 14 days from the date of purchase, after which a customer will forfeit any unutilised minutes or SMSs.

According to the Communications Authority of Kenya quarter four report for 2014/15, roaming traffic within EAC countries contributed to 23.3 million minutes and 4.8 million messages.