This was revealed when the firm announced that its money transfer service, M-Pesa has so far netted 11.89 million customers, a 60 per cent growth as at last month compared to 7.4 million last year.

The amount of money the service has transferred since inception in 2007 reached Sh525.84 billion in the financial year ended July.

Kenya’s mobile phone revolution brings 2-way email and online chat to 1 in 3 Kenyans
Over 15 million mobile phone subscribers in Kenya – over a third of the country’s population – will now be able to access email and online chat regardless of the make and model of their mobile phone. All standard phones with the ability to SMS are being transformed with the new Kipokezi service bringing low-cost email and chat within the reach of millions of Kenyans, improving communications with their friends and families, both at home and abroad

Standard phones now transformed
All standard phones with the ability to SMS are being transformed with the new Kipokezi service bringing low-cost email and chat within the reach of millions of Kenyans, improving communications with their friends and families, both at home and abroad.

Safaricom Kenya’s largest telecoms operator
The new Kipokezi service is being rolled out by Kenya’s largest telecoms operator, Safaricom, suppliers of mobile phone connectivity for almost 9 in 10 Kenyan mobile phone subscribers. The service will be available to Safaricom’s entire subscriber base and is uses ForgetMeNot Africa’s, eTXT technology a unified messaging systems for telecommunications operators.

Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph, said:

“This service packs great value to our customers. They will be able to handle their business online, check mail, find information, chat and keep in touch from wherever they are in a fast and cost-efficient manner. The price of internet-ready phones has kept many Kenyans off the web, a trend we are determined to change. This innovation is also at one with our constant strategy of increasing the utility of the mobile phone and expanding the reach of our data product.”

Low cost email and chat including MSN, Yahoo and Gtalk
Kipokezi enables Safaricom to place low-cost email and chat within the reach of millions of Kenyans but especially serves the technically-literate youth of Kenya, who are already very familiar with email and chat. Kipokezi is particularly attractive to young “early adopters” because it gives them a considerably cheaper and more convenient way of accessing email and chat compared to a standard Internet connection and without the need for data plans or handset upgrades.

What’s more, the service incorporates popular chat services such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Windows Live and Gtalk so that users can send and receive messages and invitations globally.

No internet needed just a handset
ForgetMeNot Africa’s unique Handset Initiation (HI) technology bypasses the need for Internet access and the latest handsets to offer an email service to all mobile phone users, even those in the remotest of areas.

ForgetMeNot Africa’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeremy George said:

“Almost four years ago, Safaricom revolutionised money transfer and storage in Kenya with the launch of its mobile money service enabling users to send, store and receive money through their mobile phones. Today they are giving all Kenyans the opportunity to bridge the rural-urban digital divide by giving them cheap access to chat and email services on standard mobile phones, without the need for an Internet connection, data plans or expensive handsets.”

Read Full Press Release

For an interview or further information please contact us

Following Telkom Kenya and Zain’s decision to outsource its customer care line, Essar Telecom Kenya, operating under the Yu brand, announced a similar outsourcing agreement with to Aegis, an Indian-based BPO company, that would enable the operator to cut costs in a market where margins are very low.

Zain Kenya has already outsourced the operation of its customer care services and Network management to Nokia Siemens, while Telkom Kenya has outsourced its customer care operations to local BPOs Horizon and Kencall, in an effort to keep its employee costs low.

“The initial focus for the firms was to grow their top lines, but now the executives are looking both at the top line and costs”, said Robert Bunyi, an analysts with Mavuno Capital, quoted by African newspaper, Business Daily.

ARPUs (average revenue per user ) have declined significantly in recent years, due to increased competition which has resulted in reduction in mobile tariffs across the board.

“Falling ARPU will put downward pressure on earnings growth”, said analysts within African Alliance and Renaissance Capital, citing an earlier report on the status of Kenya’s mobile telephony market.

As a result, operators have opted to bring down the operation costs where possible. According to the cited analysts, the ARPU will continue to plumet in the coming years and is only expected to stabilize in 2012, as operators continue to penetrate areas with low spending power.

Zain and Telkom Kenya announced losses of Sh7.1 billions (2008) and Sh10 billions (2009) respectively in the past two years.

Indian operator Essar joined the Kenyan mobile market last year. The market is lead by Safaricom with a 78% market share, while Zain has 17%, Telkom Kenya’s Orange 4% and Essar Kenya (Yu) only 1%.

According to research company Frost & Sullivan, African mobile operators must look at data services to register continued growth, beyond basic phone calls and SMS texting, writes Kenya’s Daily Nation.

Silvia Venter, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan, explained that the need for data was obvious in sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile phones start replacing personal computers, as PCs can be quite expensive.

In the recent results issued by MTN Group, around 15% of the oprator’s revenue came from data, an indication of the growing trend of enabling data services.

In Kenya, Safaricom announced value added and data services for its subscribers, investing about Sh7.5 billion in cross-section technologies, while Telkom Kenya boosted its fixed line capacity to accommodate more data.

Zain Kenya went further in expanding international roaming coverage for data services, establishing agreements with 45 telecoms operators worldwide.

Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph said the launch of managed services will allow companies to share ideas and offer better services to their clients while saving costs.

Mr Joseph said the demand for managed services in the Information Technology (IT) sector was on the rise as companies look for ways of streamlining expenditure.

First up will be the rolling out of a ‘Managed Office in a Box’, which includes connectivity, conferencing and collaboration tools, security and a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Cisco’s managed services offering will provide Safaricom’s customers with a complete end-to-end system, tailored to meet their individual business needs and get the benefit of better service support.

The Internet Protocol (IP) services will be delivered through Safaricom’s wired and wireless Local Area Networks (LANs) with integrated security features.

“With one stop solutions, business managers do not have to worry about the day-to -ay management of area networks and Internet based applications, freeing up time to concentrate on their core business,” Mr Joseph said.

Simu ya Solar, which also comes with a conventional charger, will be retailing at all Safaricom shops countrywide at a price of Shs2,999 (US$40).

Speaking during the launch of the phone, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph said the company has always been keen on embracing business processes and products that are environmentally-conscious.

“Solar power is definitely the way to go as it is cheap, green and renewable. This solar-charged phone will come in handy particularly in the rural parts without grid electricity and even urban areas, for those who are keen on saving on phone maintenance costs,” he said.

“Our subscribers will not have to take their phones to merchants for charging and wait all day for their handsets to charge in order to make calls. They can now talk all day and night without worrying about the level of charge and charging costs.”