The most recent CCK report announced over the weekend puts Kenyan Internet users at 16.2 million representing a 40% of the Kenyan population with access to the internet. And actively using it. This representing an 11.6% increase in the quarter ending December, means that businesses need to change their perception of the internet as a way of just emails and keeping up with the news, but a new channel to reach out to their customer base. Companies that realized this abit early are reaping benefits with their customers being able to reach out to them for product service in real-time.
Companies like Safaricom and Samsung have set up their social profiles, websites and teams to be on the ready to talk to customers and potential customers where they are during the day. Online properties like social networks, blogs and personal websites are quite essential in this day and age and recent statistics show that Internet users access the internet while in the office, a time when they are most alert.
In this day and age of people consuming goods based on user recommendations, it’s essential to be there when things happen. Tracking what users are saying about your brand is not just something that can be done but a very essential approach to customer service. A user may not tell you straight to the face that they had a bad experience, but when you have tools like we have on the internet to track that and respond in time you have an advantage of creating an impression in your customers. Customers also want to keep up with their favourite brands, and will often ask about when a certain product by company x will be available in the shops or where to find it. This even is the ripe time to think about on-line ordering and pre-orders in company supply models.
Internet subscriptions lie at 9.49 million up from 8.51 million in the previous quarter. This means that a huge number of users are on a shared connection and that would translate to office use and routed connections. Mobile data access still rules the internets, with 99% of internet subscriptions being mobile. However, there is still a low number of connections via Fiber Optic Cable at 54,400 compared to connections over mobile data which lie at 9.4 million. Terrestrial connections lie at 23,814, Satellite connections at 684, Fixed DSL Data at 10,807 and fixed cable modem subscriptions at 25.
As of mobile data connections, Safaricom reigns with 6.8 million connections, Airtel with 1 million, Telkom Orange at 853,962 and Essar (YU) at 626,140 representing a marketshare of 72%, 11.7%, 9.1% and 6.7% respectively. This shows a decline by Airtel, Telkom Orange and Yu which had 15.7%, 11.2% and 7.4% respectively, the sole gainer in mobile data subscriptions is Safaricom which previously had 66.2% in the previous quarter.
