SMSs sent by Kenyans fall by 31 million in quarter 3

A mobile user types a text message. PHOTO | FILE

By JOHN MUTUA
More by this Author

Summary

• Communications Authority (CA) data shows that Kenyans sent 16.98 billion SMSs in the period, a fall of 15.4 percent from 20.1 billion in the three months to June.
• The regulator particularly linked the drop to the expiry of an SMS promotion by Safaricom— the biggest player in the sector controlling over 94 percent of the SMS market.
• The promotion ran from April to June last year and Safaricom subscribers stood a chance to win smartphones and airtime as the telco wooed more Kenyans to increase its revenues.

Short text messages (SMSs) sent in the three months to September dropped by 31.04 million on expiry of promotions where subscribers enjoyed low rates.

Communications Authority (CA) data shows that Kenyans sent 16.98 billion SMSs in the period, a fall of 15.4 percent from 20.1 billion in the three months to June.

The regulator particularly linked the drop to the expiry of an SMS promotion by Safaricom— the biggest player in the sector controlling over 94 percent of the SMS market.

The promotion ran from April to June last year and Safaricom subscribers stood a chance to win smartphones and airtime as the telco wooed more Kenyans to increase its revenues.

“The significant drop is attributed to conclusion of the “SMS Bundle Promotion” by Safaricom PLC, which ran during the previous quarter,” CA says in the report.

The data shows that Safaricom’s share of SMSs sent dropped highest at 16 percent to 15.9 billion texts from 19.1 billion reported in the three months to June while that of Airtel dropped 0.4 percent to 897.6 million from 901.4 SMS in the period to June.

SMS are cheaper and more convenient to reach out to people in remote areas, making the service more appealing.