Airtel subscribers spent 24 percent more time on calls with other Airtel subscribers compared to calls made within the network of its closest competitor, a feat attributed to cheaper tariffs offered by the telco.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for the first quarter of the financial year 2023/24 shows Airtel subscribers spent an average of 2.6 minutes on a call with other Airtel subscribers.
This is far longer than the closest telco, Finserve, the operator of Equitel, whose subscribers spent an average of 2.1 minutes on calls within the network.
Meanwhile, subscribers of market leader Safaricom spent an average of just 1.5 minutes on calls with other Safaricom subscribers, attributed to the higher tariffs charged by the telco.
Jamii Telecommunications Limited (JTL) subscribers however spent an average of just 0.1 minutes on calls with other JTL subscribers, which is the least duration recorded by any telco.
Telkom Kenya subscribers also spent 1.5 minutes on on-net calls, tying with Safaricom.
“In Q1, Airtel Networks Limited recorded the highest average on-net minutes/call whereas Jamii Telecommunications Limited recorded the highest off-net minutes/calls,” said the authority.
“This is attributed to the fair tariffs offered by the two operators,” it added.
During the period, the total local mobile voice traffic rose by four percent to 22.2 billion minutes from 21.4 billion minutes reported in the preceding quarter.
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This is as the amount of minutes that each customer spent on making calls per month on average during the period went up to 110.3 minutes, an increase from 107.2 minutes in the previous quarter.
CA attributed the rise to the increase in mobile subscriptions as well as the various voice and bundle promotions offered by the service providers during the reference period.
On the other hand, however, SMS sent per subscription per month continued to decline to 60.6 SMS monthly down from 62.1 in the previous quarter.
This was attributed to stiff competition from other messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and Signal, which continue to gain popularity following increased coverage in broadband.
