Safaricom slashes Wi-Fi routers prices by 40pc

A sign showing Fibre ready zone in Nyeri town. This service enables subscribers access from their homes through fibre provided by Safaricom. FILE PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NMG    

By KABUI MWANGI More by this Author

Safaricom has cut prices of the Adrian and Huawei series of fourth-generation (4G) Wi-Fi routers by up to 40 percent in efforts aimed at accelerating the uptake of the

home internet product.

In a public update posted across the telco’s social networks, the Huawei router will now cost Sh6,999 down from Sh10,999 while the Adrian router will go for Sh5,999 down from Sh9,999.

“It’s time to enjoy movies galore, gaming with friends and so much more at up to 40 percent off on 4G Wi-Fi,” Safaricom said in a notice.

Read: Safaricom grows fixed Internet market share to 35.6 per cent

The leading telco says customers can apply online for the router of their choice, pay for it remotely and have it delivered to their homes for set up or alternatively walk into a Safaricom shop and buy one physically.

On purchase, each of the two routers comes with 30GB of free data valid for 30 days complementing the package chosen.

Safaricom went ahead of rivals in rolling out the 4G network in the country in 2014 before declaring the network coverage available in all corners of the country by December 2017.

The network gave the telco the ability to provide its own advanced data services to an affluent market that was by then being served by fibre-to-home providers like Jamii Telecommunications (trading as Faiba) and Wananchi Group (trading as Zuku).

In 2019, Safaricom ruled out the possibility of phasing out the 4G network as it mulled rolling out the fifth generation (5G) version, saying then that 4G had not attained optimal utilisation.

Kenya’s telephony market evolution has been on an overdrive in recent years, with users scaling down on voice calls and leaning more towards data, forcing service providers to adapt in order to secure their revenue streams.

Read: Safaricom sets expiry date for Bonga mobile Internet

Safaricom, which boasts of 35.6 percent of the country’s fixed internet market share as per the sector statistics released in December last year, has been leading the pack in the shift.

→ kmwangi@ke.nationmedia.com