Safaricom has a lot of products for its millions of users. Most of them are data-centric, and while voice is still the telco’s primary money-maker, more people are transitioning to chat apps that have made data a lucrative product for telecom operators.
Also, it is not every day that these companies go out of their way to incentivize their trade. Of course, there are several deals on the table for any particular day, but they don’t match a couple of freebies.
In line with free stuff, which most Kenyans are known to adore, Safaricom will refund all airtime used on October 20. Mashujaa Day is the day Kenyans celebrate heroes and sheroes who made selfless acts for Kenya to get independence. But this is not limited to independence as there are heroes every other day.
There is still a catch here: subscribers will still have to actually buy and use airtime for it to be refunded the following day. It would have made a lot of people happier if that condition was not there (just let Kenyans call for free some time), but we know that cannot happen. Also, refunded airtime is valid for 24 hours.
Nevertheless, the move is appealing in a time when the effects of the Finance Act 2018 have started to take shape. Ordinarily, the telco was charging KES 4 and KES 2 for peak and off-peak calls per minute. The fees have since been revised upwards.
Another notable price hike affected Safaricom Fiber to the home users who have been slapped with markedly high fees. These developments were enforced as of October 18.