Airtel Kenya gains mobile share in third quarter, Safaricom slips

Airtel Kenya slightly increased its mobile subscription market share in the third quarter, while rival Safaricom’s fell, an official report showed on Tuesday.

Overall mobile subscriptions grew by 2.3 percent to 46.6 million subscribers in the period.

This was driven by some subscribers acquiring extra SIM cards, the report by the Communications Authority of Kenyan (CAK) said.

Airtel’s subscriber market share gained nearly a percentage point to 22.3 percent in the third quarter.

The report said this was due to its cheaper tariff plans, while Safaricom’s fell by slightly over a percentage point to 64.2 percent.

Kenya has a thriving voice and data telecommunications sectors, powered by an economy that also boasts the region’s most advanced manufacturing sector.