Corporate News
Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni at a past event. The carrier
will ride on Airtel’s network to offer voice and data telecommunication
services. FILE PHOTO | NATION
By OKUTTAH MARK
In Summary
- The national carrier will ride on Airtel’s network to offer voice and data telecommunication services under the recently introduced Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) licence.
- For Airtel, the deal provides yet another opportunity to use its excess frequency capacity and add to its top line.
- KQ becomes the fourth non-telecommunications company to sign a deal with Airtel for provision of mobile phone and banking services through the MVNO licence.
Kenya Airways
has ventured into the mobile telecommunications industry with the
signing of an agreement that will see the airline offer phone
connections to its customers.
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The national carrier will ride on Airtel’s network to offer
voice and data telecommunication services under the recently introduced
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) licence.
Kenya Airways is targeting a fraction of the millions of incoming and outgoing passengers that it flies every year.
“Through this partnership with Airtel, we are
optimistic that our guests will soon be enjoying a service that allows
them better calling rates while in Kenya or roaming within the wide
Airtel network,” said Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni in a statement.
He said the mobile communications service would help KQ improve customer experience while diversifying revenue streams.
For the Essar Group-owned Airtel, the deal provides
yet another opportunity to use its excess frequency capacity and add to
its top line.
The carrier becomes the fourth
non-telecommunications company to sign a deal with Airtel for provision
of mobile phone and banking services through the MVNO licence.
Three other firms, including Equity Bank’s subsidiary Finserve, ZionCell and Tangaza Pesa were issued with similar licences in April.
“We are greatly encouraged by the shared vision
with Kenya Airways and the common urgency to find solutions that
will enable travelling customers connect to their loved ones and
businesses throughout their travel, Airtel Africa CEO Christian de
Faria said.
The latest industry report released by the
Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) late last month indicated that for
the three months to March, the volume of roaming voice traffic declined
by 33.2 per cent to 8.5 million minutes, from 12.7 million minutes
posted during the previous quarter.
The decline was also experienced in outgoing SMS
that declined by 36.4 per cent during the quarter to 7.1 million
messages down from 11.2 million messages.
“This decline could be attributed to customers’
preference to buy and use foreign SIM cards in order to avoid incurring
high roaming charges,” said the CA in the report.
KQ and Airtel will, however, have to get regulatory approval from the CA before launching the telecommunications service.
The CA director general Francis Wangusi Thursday told the Business Daily that the two have not yet filed their application.
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