Some of the players in Kenyan mobile phone sector include Safaricom – with the most number of subscribers than the other providers, Zain, Orange and Yu.
There are several factors that contribute to the difference in subscriber numbers among the providers. These include:
1. When the company was established – Some of the companies that began operating in Kenyan before several other companies providing similar services entered the market seem to have an upper hand when it comes to subscriber numbers. Most people who opted to own a mobile phone years back only had to choose between Safaricom or Kencell. The pioneers set a firm foundation and have retained lots of loyal customers since then.
2. Network coverage also comes in to set the difference. Most subscribers would opt for an operator with slightly expensive tariffs provided they have a wide network coverage, since subscribers are always on the move and therefore a wide network coverage is a must in order for an operator to retain them.
3. Tariff charges. Most subscribers would be easily drawn towards an operator with the ‘most’ affordable tariff rates. Cheap does not mean more subscribers. Smart subscribers will always go for affordable but quality services. Tariff rates goes hand in hand with other factors such as the ones mentioned above.
4. Friends and family preferences may also easily influence new users. For instance, a teen fresh from high school or primary school may for his or her birthday ask for a phone. The gift in most instances will be brought home complete – A new mobile phone, a new SIM card and airtime voucher.
5. Time for termination of services. Some operators will render a subscriber’s SIM card obsolete after a given period of inactivity, e.g. three or four months after the last recharge. High school students who are not allowed to carry phones to schools usually prefer the operator with the longest period before their SIM card is rendered inactive.
6. Other subscribers love a customer care team ready for their answers any time even in the middle of the night. They’ll easily fall for an operator with an efficient customer care service. Though some have learnt to bear with operators whose customer care lines are ever busy.
7. Other services that may attract subscribers further bringing in the differences include mobile money transfer services such as Safaricom’s M-Pesa, Zain’s Zap etc. Subscribers will go for an operator with time saving features enabling him to pay for electricity bills from the comfort of his couch instead of sweating in a long queue in a Kenya Power and Lighting Company hall waiting for his turn to pay his electricity bill. Other subscribers also fall for the adverts they see on dailies may be with claims of fast and cheap internet, some just follow the crowd – they go where most Kenyan phone owners are. Others, especially subscribers who own online businesses selling digital products like ebooks, music (MP3, Kenyan music – like PewaHewa) will go for operators that makes it easy for them to expand their choice of how they receive money for their products.
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