Hot on the heels of Safaricom, Airtel has also announced a 60% price reduction of roaming costs on calls to Kenyans in Rwanda. The changes will see a similar price reduction with Airtel announcing outgoing calls rate of Kshs 10 per minute down from Kshs 25 per minute.
This comes as a result of the agreement by East African countries starting October where they agreed to lower cross country calls in a move aimed at increasing trade among the East African countries. Soon we will see more developments by mobile network operators in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan who were in the talks that led to this development.
Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi noted that, “Regional mobility is a critical factor in increasing trade and cross-border economic cooperation, which is a priority in the East African region and beyond. At Airtel, our intention is to continue increasing connectivity and making communication more affordable for subscribers, encouraging greater adoption and usage of mobile services and enabling important socio-economic benefits. Airtel remains committed to deliver more affordable roaming prices and better value for consumer traveling or doing business in Rwanda and beyond.”
Kenyan Airtel customers will also be able to make pre-paid airtime top-ups while in Rwanda using the Airtel Rwanda top-up scratch cards by dialing 138*voucher pin and pressing the OK button.
Receiving calls while roaming in Rwanda will be free, Airtel though is yet to confirm what the rate is for calling within Rwanda networks by time of going to press. We will update you as soon as they do.
[UPDATE] All calls are priced at Kshs 10, both calls back home and calls to networks within Rwanda.
