In the recently released Communication Authority of Kenya Q3 2016 statistics report, Kenya’s mobile penetration now stands at 89.2% of the population. The Authority attributed the growth in mobile subscribers as well as rise in mobile penetration to continued investment by telcos in infrastructure which allows more users to access services. In terms of market share, Safaricom leads with 65.6% and 25.1 Million subscribers. The telco has however faced criticism in recent past over the quality of service as well as inefficiency in customer delivery.
The company has today made announcements aimed at improving the customer experience for its voice, data, and SMS services. According to Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, the carrier handles 30 Million calls and 70 Million SMS hourly, hence the need to improve the quality of service. “We spend over 30 Billion each financial year in network infrastructure making it a core part of our business,” he said.
The products include Safaricom guarantee, My data manager and my subscription manager. With Safaricom Gurantee, the company is looking to ensure completion of customer calls. On average the firm has a 0.3% call drop rate, which is marginally low but frustrating for customers. The company now says it will compensate customers with upto 60 seconds of call time for every call dropped. Upon your call being dropped, Safaricom will send an SMS with an apology and a reimbursement of upto 60 seconds. The company is also aware some may try to manipulate the service and has thus set a limit of 5 refunds a day per subscriber. The Safaricom guarantee service is went live and customers who face such lapses can now look forward.
In the CA report, mobile data led to growth of internet penetration in Kenya stood at 87.2%, with mobile data contributing immensely to the surge. In terms of market share, Safaricom retained its top position with 60.8% market share. The company also unveiled “my data manager” where one can determine how they want to use their data resources by dialing *544*5#. Safaricom will in turn restrict browsing when the customer is out of data and not usher them automatically to using their credit. This has been one of the biggest complaints by the company’s data customers.
A while back, we gave step by step break down of how to unsubscribe from premium rate services on Safaricom. Still, the process was taxing and frustrating. The third product launched today was the “My Subscriptions Management”, which will give users the option of subscribing or unsubscribing from different services. In addition, users will also have power to manage their SMS and data subscriptions. Safaricom will also notify customers weekly on which services they are subscribed.
