UPDATE 2: Outage has been resolved fully.
We are pleased to inform you that the network issues has been resolved and services restored.
You can now make calls and send messages. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for your patience.
UPDATE1: Airtel Kenya has issued a statement regarding the outage.
We are currently having some technical challenges with our network. Due to this, calls and SMS messages will be intermittent. However, data services are available.
We are working to resolve this on priority and we shall keep you updated. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for your patience.
Rest of the story…
For the better part of this morning, Airtel Kenya customers have noticed calls, SMS are not going through, as well as data services. The issues has also affected customer care lines, so users have no platform to vent their frustrations besides using social media pages.
@AIRTEL_KE so i can't call any number in Kenya!Even your 100 ain't going through…… What's up? Or is it only to my number?…
— Demabior (@DemabiorGarang) October 16, 2019
This issue has been reserved for the likes of Safaricom, which, in 2019, has had its fair share of network outage.
Some users noticed the outage very early in the morning before the issue became widespread.
Is it my phone ama Airtel Kenya network has been offline the whole morning?
— S.Serem (@shedyserem) October 16, 2019
So far, no specific explanation not been given for the downtime, although the carrier, which is exploring a merger deal with Telkom Kenya has acknowledged the issue.
Some are demanding compensation, although that is a stretch because no carrier has ever done so in the Kenyan space besides issuing an apology to customers and moving on swiftly. Telcos are however punished by the CA for loss of service in the event it is determined a provider was lax in the provision of services.
By the way, the Indian-owned operator simply says it has identified the cause of the network hitch and is in the process of addressing it.
Hi, kindly note we have identified the issue affecting data, voice and sms and are working on resolving it.^Caro
— Airtel Kenya (@AIRTEL_KE) October 16, 2019
At the moment, the outage is still here, so users may need to dust their other SIM cards and access services before a fix arrives.
