Consumers benefited from promotions and special offers for mobile voice services resulting in an increase in mobile voice traffic in third quarter of 2023, according to statistics by the Communications Authority of Kenya’s (CA).
The volume of outgoing domestic voice traffic grew from 23.6 billion mins reported between October-December 2023 to 25.2 billion between January-March period.On-net (own Network-Own Network) voice traffic grew to 21.6 billion mins in the 3rd quarter compared to 20.2 billion mins between October-December last year.Off-net (Own Network to other Mobile Networks) grew from 3.3 billion to 3.5 billion.“The growth is attributed to the offers and promotions run by the service providers during the referenced period some of which customers were able to make 15 minutes call within 30 minutes from the time of purchase for as low as KES 5,” according to the CA.
In Q3, the total average minutes per on-net calls remained unchanged at 1.8 minutes whereas that of off-net calls grew to 1.2 minutes from 1.1 minutes recorded in quarter two. Consumers on Airtel Networks spent more time on a single on-net call averaging 2.9 minutes from 2.8 minutes posted in the preceding quarter. Further, Safaricom PLC, Equitel and Jamii customers recorded the highest average Minutes of Use per off net call at 1.3.
During the period, mobile money transactions grew following the removal of withdrawal codes for transactions sent from M-Pesa to Airtel Money making it possible to transfer funds directly between the two mobile wallets. Mobile money subscriptions grew to 38.7 million translating to a penetration rate of 75.0 percent.
The launch of Starlink’s Internet services in the country played a major role in driving the uptake of broadband services.Generally, the CA expects to keep growing following the roll out of new technologies and services.The total available International Internet bandwidth capacity in the country grew by 20.0 per cent to 20,744.338 Gbps.The total utilized undersea bandwidth capacity grew by 1.5 per cent to 11,155.154 Gbps, out of which 8,201.334 Gbps were used in the country and 2,953.820 Gbps were sold outside the country.
The regulator says the number of local outgoing letters and parcels grew by 29.5 percent and 23.8 percent to post 373,293 letters and 1,797,398 parcels, respectively. However, international outgoing letters declined from 405,398 letters posted in the previous quarter to 263,522 letters in the quarter the third quarter. Additionally, international incoming letters dropped by 21.8 percent to 86,227 letters during the quarter under review.
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