Safaricom cuts prices in race for home Internet customers

Safaricom’s director for strategy and a co-acting chief executive Joseph Ogutu. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By CONSTANT MUNDA

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Summary

• The cut of up to 53 per cent in mobile broadband prices under two new bundles is also seen as a strategy to grow sales of repackaged Android-powered digital TV decoders.
• Safaricom is charging Sh3,500 for 30 Gigabytes (GB) under Easy30 bundle for 30 days and Sh6,000 for 50GB under Easy50 package, which expires in 45 days.
• Customers who still use BIGBox can also buy monthly home bundles at Sh3,199 for 15GB and Sh1,199 for 5GB under the new offering.

Safaricom has cut mobile data charges for its Internet-enabled digital television decoders in a bid to beat off competition in the home Internet space.

The cut of up to 53 per cent in mobile broadband prices under two new bundles is also seen as a strategy to grow sales of repackaged Android-powered digital TV decoders.

The decoders were silently relaunched last November, two years after they were pulled out for upgrade as sales flattened at 1,500 devices in the first seven months. It was then selling under BIGBox brand.

Safaricom is charging Sh3,500 for 30 Gigabytes (GB) under Easy30 bundle for 30 days and Sh6,000 for 50GB under Easy50 package, which expires in 45 days.

Customers who still use BIGBox can also buy monthly home bundles at Sh3,199 for 15GB and Sh1,199 for 5GB under the new offering.

“The new Easy bundles have been designed with the needs of the modern Kenyan family in mind,” Safaricom’s director for strategy and a co-acting chief executive Joseph Ogutu said in a statement.

READ: Safaricom home Internet passes 90,000 houses

“In addition, the affordability of the Easy data bundles will supplement our nationwide 4G coverage, ensuring that each home now has access to world-class, quality, high speed broadband.”

Safaricom Digital TV and Internet Box, which sells for Sh9,999 and Sh5,999 offer price for active home fibre customers, has Wi-Fi and personal video recorder capabilities, among other enhanced features.

The firm said the new bundles for its home internet customers were an alternative to fixed Safaricom home fibre service.

Safaricom charges Sh500 for 1GB Internet bundle, Sh1,000 for 3GB, Sh2,000 for 7.5GB and Sh3,000 for 12GB.

Airtel has priced its monthly data bundles at Sh500 for 1GB and Sh2,000 for 4GB, while Telkom Kenya offers 1.5GB for Sh499 and 100GB for Sh8,999. Jamii Telecom last December shocked the mobile data market with monthly bundles of Sh1,000 for 25GB and Sh6,000 for 210GB.