Chinese network and telecommunications solutions company, Huawei, and Safaricom, Kenya’s leading mobile network operator are this week celebrating 14 years of their partnership in the industry.
Over the nearly a decade and a half partnership, Huawei has been involved in the modernization of Safaricom’s network infrastructure for both 2G and 3G. It has also been at the centre of Safaricom’s Transmission, Core Network and Billing (CBS) systems and M-PESA, the revolutionary mobile money transfer service owned by Safaricom’s parent company Vodafone that is always touted as one of Kenya’s foremost tech success stories.
More recently, the companies have partnered for the rollout of 4G LTE network across the country and the national police surveillance system.
Safaricom, on its side, has been the main platform for access to Huawei’s mobile devices starting with the popular first generation IDEOS smartphone which was for most Kenyan users, their first interaction with a smartphone, a trend the two companies are continuing today with 4G smartphones that cost as little as Kshs 5,000 which Safaricom believes are key in getting most of its user base to switch to 4G smartphones. The affordable 4G devices by Huawei could go a long way in helping the company score its desired market share of 20%.
According to Huawei Kenya’s SFC Senior Director Bob Wang Tie, the company currently has a 10% share of the local smartphone market.
To mark the 14-year anniversary, Safaricom is offering a 10% discount on several Huawei devices at its retail outlets countrywide for the next two weeks.
The devices available with this offer range from those targeted at the entry-level segment, the mid-range market segment through to the premium range.
Base models of flagship devices like the Huawei P9 and the Huawei Mate 8, for instance, are available for Kshs 50,000 and 52,000 respectively, down from Kshs 57,100 and Kshs 54,000. Safaricom will gift buyers of the two devices with 4GB data as well.
The other offers are as follows:
| Device | Discounted Price | Old Price | Free bundled data |
| Huawei GR3 | Kshs 16,000 | Kshs 19,100 | 1GB |
| Huawei Y3II | Kshs 9,000 | Kshs 10,500 | 1GB |
| Huawei Y360 | Kshs 5,000 | Kshs 5,500 | 500MB |
| MediaPad T1 7.0 | Kshs 11,000 | Kshs 12,100 | 1GB (plus free cover) |
