Safaricom prepares counter offer to Zain price cut

Safaricom and Zain face off via adverts. Zain Kenya recently slashed its calling rates from Sh6 to a flat rate of Sh3 per minute and Sh1 for SMS. Photo/FILE

The battle for market share between mobile phone service providers started by a drastic reduction in calling rates by Zain Kenya is promising to be even more bloodier.

In a teaser advert in Sunday's dailies, Safaricom, its main rival and lead services provider in the country, gave an indication of things to come.

It seems the firm is not taking the heat lying down and has come up with a counter strategy yet to unfold, only giving a hint through the advert, “Masaa ya kubamba yanakuja,” that its rates might be revised downwards.

Last Wednesday, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) slashed interconnection rates from Sh4.21 to Sh2.21, making it cheaper to call across networks.

Zain Kenya, recently bought by India’s largest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, followed the move by slashing its calling rates from Sh6 to a flat rate of Sh3 per minute and Sh1 for SMS.

This sent the market into a frenzy with yu following suit and subscribers rushing to buy Zain’s sim cards amid claims by the company that Safaricom was frustrating it by blocking its operations.

Read a comprehensive analysis of the wars and what they portend for operators in SmartCompany on Tuesday.