Mr Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
Summary
- Last month it emerged that Safaricom could be forced to hive off its popular mobile money service M-Pesa.
- Mr Collymore indicated that the company was looking at hiring experts from different sectors as it seeks ways of leveraging on its knowledge in mobile phone technology.
- Last year, Safaricom’s data segment grew by about 43 per cent.
Safaricom is set to roll out an
innovation unit aimed at offering Internet-based solutions and boost
wealth creation opportunities.
This is part of a plan
by the telco to keep abreast with the fast-evolving digital economy.
The telco, in a statement, said it is also seeking to secure its future
in a fast-evolving digital economy where its products M-Pesa and data
provision are the key revenue drivers.
Last month it
emerged that Safaricom could be forced to hive off its popular mobile
money service M-Pesa if sector regulator, the Communications Authority
of Kenya , moves to implement recommendations of a market dominance
report.
M-Pesa, launched in March 2007, has over 24 million customers and about 114,000 agents’ outlets countrywide.
“It
(the innovation unit) will be a stand-alone unit which will be
positioned and housed away from where we are. We are in the final stages
of appointing a head of innovation and we are setting up a unit which
will be outside of this company,” said Safaricom’s chief executive Bob
Collymore.
Mr Collymore indicated that the company was
looking at hiring experts from different sectors as it seeks ways of
leveraging on its knowledge in mobile phone technology.
“We
are going to focus on people from different sectors. We’ll be hiring
people from the agriculture, education, health and e-commerce sectors,”
he said. Safaricom has been supporting innovation through its Spark
Venture Fund, which has been supporting mobile ICT-based start-ups in
the country through equity investment in their businesses or in the form
of other debt instruments. The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed
firm with an annual revenue in excess of Sh150 billion has invested
Sh30 billion in expanding its network.
Safaricom is working to catch up with the rest of the
world on data where the growth rate stands at 62 per cent while that in
Africa is at 51 per cent.
Last year, Safaricom’s data segment grew by about 43 per cent.
Already,
it has rolled out the 4G network and targets to close the year with
about 1,000 4G sites. The firm is also distributing its fibre network
via poles in its Fibre to Business and Fibre to Homes programme.
“We
have connected about 22,000 homes with fibre. That’s a cheaper way of
delivering the data requirement to homes. People want to have unlimited
data. Unlimited data on the mobile is not economically viable in the
long run,” said Mr Collymore. In addition to its core business, the
telco has been partnering with firms to deliver products and services on
its platform as a way of growing customers and revenue.
This
includes Little Ride, where it partnered with Craft Silicon to offer a
taxi hailing app which is now operational in Nairobi and Mombasa.
The company also partnered with global Internet and entertainment group Naspers to deliver video content.
This
was through a two-tier service for watching television shows and movies
through the Internet by utilising Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile payment
platform.
The firm’s video-on-demand service, Showmax,
allows subscribers to choose a number of different download video
quality levels and data usage is charged separately as it works with a
customer’s data bundles.
Showmax Premium, priced at
Sh880 per month, provides a full range of international and local
content — while Showmax Select offers a reduced data consumption with a
specific focus on local content at Sh330. Both tiers allow subscribers
to either stream content or to download up to 25 shows to watch offline.
In addition, Safaricom is in talks with handset makers on pricing of
smartphones in order to bring more users on board.
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