Airtel Kenya amassed 3.01 million SIM card subscribers during the first three months of this year to cross the 24 million mark for the first time ever, outpacing rival Safaricom which gathered 1.7 million customers during the period.
Latest industry data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that Airtel had 24.5 million active SIM cards in the market as at close of March, up from 21.5 million at the end of last December, translating to a 13.95 percent jump.
Rival network Safaricom, on the other hand, grew its user base by 3.6 percent during the period, standing at 48.2 million subscribers in March up from 46.6 percent at the close of last year.
This came at a time when the overall industry growth in SIM subscriptions by the five analysed providers was 6.7 percent, rising from 71.4 million to 76.2 million during the period. Many subscribers have multiple lines, leading to total subscriber numbers surpassing the country's population.
The rest of the captured firms are Equitel, Telkom and Jamii Telecommunications Limited (JTL) which had 1.5 million, 1.2 million, and 0.7 million subscribers respectively as at end of March.
“We are deeply humbled by the support of over 24 million customers who continue to believe in us. This is not the destination, it is part of a longer journey,” said Airtel Kenya Managing Director Ashish Malhotra in a statement.
“We are committed to Kenya, and whilst we have made huge investments, our mission of enriching lives and driving progress is still not done,” he added.
Airtel’s growth comes at a time the telco has been on an aggressive drive to enhance service capacity, including through erecting new network masts in previously underserved locations.
Part of the regulatory conditions in its operating licence was a requirement to build network booster masts in 102 sub-locations where it had poor quality coverage by the end of last year when the permit was falling due for renewal.
The CA has, however, extended the grace period to January 2027 after it only completed installations in 40 sub-locations, partially covered in 29 as six remained uncovered due to security concerns.
This means that 33 sub-locations in the country remained completely without Airtel network coverage as of close of last year.
Airtel secured a two-year extension of its licence which was set to expire in January this year after reaching an out-of-court agreement with the regulator to settle up to Sh2.3 billion in unpaid licensing fees.
