Safaricom slashes roaming charges in over 52 countries

What you need to know:

  • The slash of the roaming charges comes on the backdrop of a decrease in the volume of incoming and outgoing international voice traffic according to the latest statistics from the industry regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya CA.
  • Data pricing will fall to Sh14 per MB while roaming on China Mobile and China Unicom, down from the previous rate of Sh1, 900.

Safaricom has reduced roaming charges for calls and data by up to 99 per cent for over 200 networks across the world following successful negotiations with its global network of partners.

Safaricom customers will be able to enjoy reduced data roaming rates at Sh14 per MB in over 52 countries, as well as make calls at reduced rates.

The new rates will be applicable to both prepay and postpay subscribers with customers able to select their network of choice in the destinations that they travel to based on the rates on offer.

Decrease in international voice traffic

The slash of the roaming charges comes on the backdrop of a decrease in the volume of incoming and outgoing international voice traffic according to the latest statistics from the industry regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya CA.

“Our new roaming rates progress our deliberate strategy to continuously invest in optimizing our customers’ experience in order to provide the best experience on our network,” Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom said.

In China for example, Safaricom subscribers roaming on China Mobile will now be charged Sh50 to call back home and enjoy a low of Sh10 per minute to call within China, down from the former rate of Sh360 and Sh130 respectively.

Data pricing will fall to Sh14 per MB while roaming on China Mobile and China Unicom, down from the previous rate of Sh1, 900.

The CA statistics data for the three months to March indicates that the total international mobile voice traffic received in the country during the period under review declined by 5.6 per cent to stand at 148.7 million minutes down from 157.5 million minutes reported in the previous quarter.

During the period under review, the volume of SMS received from other countries dropped by 11.1 per cent to stand at 9.7 million messages from 10.9 million messages reported in the previous quarter.

International outgoing SMS on the other hand grew by 13.5 per cent from 9.1 million messages sent during the last quarter to 10.3 million messages during the quarter under review