Safaricom PLC has launched B-Live, a new internet offering that charges customers based on time rather than the amount of data consumed, a potential shift in how mobile users manage connectivity.
- •The new product allows subscribers to pay for access in hourly blocks: one hour at KSh20, three hours at KSh50, or six hours at KSh150.
- •Unlike traditional bundles sold by megabytes or gigabytes, the plan provides continuous browsing for a set period, regardless of data usage.
- •The move is aimed at expanding Safaricom’s reach among younger and cost-sensitive users, particularly students, small businesses, and digital content creators who often rely on flexible internet packages.
“We recognise that our customers are different. Some prefer managing their usage in MBs or GBs, while others simply want to enjoy the internet for a set period of time. By adding this option, we’re putting control back in the hands of our customers and enabling them to focus on what matters most,” said Fawzia Ali-Kimanthi, Chief Consumer Business Officer, Safaricom PLC.
The offer is slated to strengthen the telco’s efforts to secure more ground in Kenya’s fast-growing mobile internet market, where price sensitivity and shifting consumption patterns have forced operators to rethink their models.
By layering the B-Live option onto its existing MB/GB-based bundles, Safaricom is betting that time-based pricing can capture demand from segments that prefer predictability over data caps. The company has marketed the plan as an enabler for e-learning, video streaming, social media engagement, and remote work.
According to sector analysts, time-based bundles also have other benefits such as congestion control, simpler and more efficient operations, and sustainability goals.
“While data-based has overshadowed it over the years, time-based could address specific challenges like network congestion during peak hours for the telcos like Safaricom,” industry website Kachwanya.com said in an analysis of the move.
Safaricom, which accounts for more than 60% of Kenya’s mobile subscriptions, has been under pressure to innovate as competition from Airtel and Telkom intensifies. Fresh data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows its market share slid to 63.3% in March 2025, down from 65.7% six months earlier, marking its steepest decline in years.
According to the telco’s latest financials, mobile data has become Safaricom’s second-largest revenue driver after M-PESA, with earnings rising to KSh78.5 billion in FY2025, up nearly fifteen-fold from a decade earlier.
Data now accounts for a fifth of total revenue, underscoring how sharply the company has pivoted away from voice services, which once dominated its books but now contribute barely a fifth.