Browsing: Airtel

• In Kenya, mobile phone users are opting for internet calls and texting as a measure to cut on costs.
• Last year, customers spent more time on a single on-net call averaging 2.8 minutes.
• Safaricom customers spent more on off-net calls, averaging at 1.4 minutes while Airtel accounted for 33.3% of voice and 10.3% of SMS traffic in Kenya. 

An increasing number of mobile phone users in Kenya prefer using internet calls and texting as a measure to cut communication costs, a 2023 report by the Communications Authority shows. This shift is steadily eroding both voice and text revenues for mobile network providers in Kenya.

The report shows that the minutes of use per month per subscription decreased to 120.4 minutes in the three months to December 2023 compared to a higher 123.4 minutes during the previous quarter.

Similarly, short messages sent per month per subscription declined marginally to 65.4 from …

• 2Africa Submarine Cable ushers in unprecedented internet speeds of 180 terabytes per second.
• The cable is a success story of partnership between Tanzania, Airtel Tanzania and 2Africa Submarine Cable.
• The cable comes at a time Tanzania is rolling out 5G internet WIFI in business parks, and public transport centres.

In a historic development, 2Africa Submarine Cable, the world’s longest submarine communication fibre link, has successfully reached the shores of Tanzania. Spanning 45,000 kilometers and interconnecting over 33 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe, this cable will benefit more than three billion individuals worldwide.

2Africa Submarine Cable a success story of PPP

Spearheaded through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the government and Airtel Tanzania, the 2Africa Submarine Cable marks the dawning of a new era in the realm of communication. Tanzania’s Minister for Information, Communication, and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye, expressed his optimism about the transformative potential of this project, …

Airtel Kenya has announced the launch of its fifth-generation network (5G) to take advantage of the increasing adoption of 5G devices. Last month, Airtel Kenya announced its intention to expand its network coverage to meet the growing demand for data services in East Africa. With this move, Airtel Kenya joins Safaricom among the network providers that have introduced 5G in the country.…

Airtel, Kenya’s second-largest mobile service provider, has partnered with Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). This partnership will allow Kenyans to pay their electricity bills through their mobile money platform at no cost.…

The government amended the Electronic and Postal Communication Act (CAP) last month by imposing a levy of between US$0.0043 (10Tsh) and US$4 on mobile money transactions, depending on the amount sent and withdrawn.

One of the key factors that led to the expansion of mobile money in Africa and Tanzania, in this case, was the increased interoperability, product expansion—which brought financial inclusion to enable nearly everyone with decent income-earning schedules to own a mobile wallet account.…

Airtel Uganda and KCB Bank Uganda announced a partnership to introduce a variety of mobile loans and savings solutions in Uganda.

From the partnership, its customers will earn interest on savings of five percent per annum on regular savings and 9 percent per annum on fixed deposits.

The automated digital products include Regular Savings, Instant Unsecured Mobile Loans and Fixed Deposit Savings Accounts that will allow its customers to borrow mobile loans from as low as UGX300 (KSH 9.15). Airtel Money Agents will be able to get unsecured loans at UGX300 interest only while KCB and Airtel customers can earn up to 9 percent interest on mobile savings.

The partnership is set to revolutionize savings in Uganda by providing the best interest rate in the market.

“Most of our customers are unbanked with limited or no access to financial products especially saving deposits. By offering competitive interest rates in an …

Airtel records a massive rise in profit of $1.03 billion in Q1 2021 due to an increase in data and mobile money subscribers between January and March 2021.

In its latest financial report for Q1 2021, Airtel saw a significant rise in revenue by 21.7 per cent from  Q1 of 2020 which recorded $899 million in revenue. However, due to constant currency change, the revenue growth is at 15.4 per cent.

In Q1 2021, Airtel recorded a $215 million increase in profit before tax from $97 million recorded in Q1 2020 despite recording a 6.9 growth in its total subscribers.

In Q1 2021 Airtel recorded profits of $154 million in profits after tax compared to $77 million recorded in 2020.

Data service saw an increase of 31.7 per cent to record $315 million in revenue compared to $253 million in Q1 2020 while mobile money recorded a 38.7 per cent …

Airtel recorded a 14 per cent growth in revenue to $ 659 million in East Africa for the six months ending September citing an increase in subscribers.

According to Airtel’s financial report, voice revenues saw a growth of 5.4 per cent to $312 million across the East African market which includes Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia.

Data service recorded a 21.2 per cent growth in revenues to $ 174 million while mobile money as well saw a 33.2 per cent growth in revenues to $132 million during the period under review.

The telecom said that the double growth in revenue is due to an increase in subscriber numbers from 12.1 million to 14.9 million as well as 4G infrastructure network expansion from 60 per cent to 68.6 per cent of the sites in the period under review.

“Our mobile network in Uganda, Zambia and Malawi now consists of …

Airtel Africa said its first-half Capex (Capital Expenditure) dropped by 12.4 per cent to $216 million, mostly due to the impact of import logistics during the pandemic period.

In a worst-case scenario, Airtel Africa it could be able to reduce Capex significantly without compromising network quality by prioritising expenditure.

Airtel Africa

The telecom said that it is continuing to invest in the mobile network and it has not changed its commitment to spend planned $650 million to $700 million.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2020-2, Airtel CAPEX in Nigeria was $97 million, in  Francophone Africa at $36 million and in East Africa at $81 million.

The strategy of the telecom group is to invest in the network by expanding 4G coverage and building capacity to cater to the needs of its customers and to continue providing them with high-speed data.

The group said the expansion of 4G coverage and …

Airtel was ranked as the leading data speed provider with slightly above 14 megabits per second (Mbps) a report from the latest Quality of Service study (QoS) released by the telecom regulator.

According to the Uganda Communications Commission, the Quality of Service study (QoS was carried out to determine telecom performance in success, blocked call rates and dropped call rates and data speeds described as throughput (speed).

The report indicates that telecoms in Uganda registered the highest speeds in rural areas and slower speeds in the urban and peri-urban.

Also Read: Data, mobile money steer Airtel’s revenue growth

From the study, the Airtel network was the quickest in nearly every jurisdiction.
For instance, in an area where Airtel had an average speed of 14mbps, MTN was slightly above 4mbps and 3mbps.

Last year, Airtel Africa embarked on an exercise aimed at boosting the company’s infrastructure to upgrade its internet. The …