Safaricom added 36,604 new customers in fixed Internet service for homes and offices in the three months ending September, accounting for more than half of the total industry’s additional connections during the review period.
According to data from the Communications Authority (CA), the telco’s market share increased to 35.6 per cent across the two market segments when total new connections increased by 70,788.
The firm’s market share was 34.3 per cent in the previous quarter, which ended in June.
Safaricom has moved further away from Zuku-owned Wananchi (with a 25.5% stake) due to massive investments the telco is making in a sector it claims has high revenue potential.
Safaricom has spent billions of shillings in recent years expanding its fixed-data network to connect homes due to increased demand from Internet learning, working from home, and online streaming services such as Netflix.
“During the quarter under review, Safaricom Plc recorded the highest market shares in fixed data subscriptions at 35.6 per cent followed by Wananchi Group at 25.5 per cent,” the industry regulator says in the report.
According to the data, the number of homes and businesses connected to fixed Internet increased by 8% in the third quarter ended September to 986,462 from 915,674 in the previous quarter ended June.
Safaricom revealed that expanding its Fibre to the Home (FTTH) and Fibre to the Building (FTTB) services is a key plank of its revenue drive this year, citing the sector’s high untapped potential.
The telecom has connected thousands of homes to its fixed-data network through the use of fibre and poles, propelling it past Zuku and Jamii Telecoms to become the market leader.
“Over the medium- to long-term, we aim to connect one million homes with FTTH,” Safaricom disclosed in its latest annual report.
For years, the Wananchi-owned Zuku has been Safaricom’s closest rival, with the two companies locked in pricing wars that have lowered the fixed Internet cost while offering discounts to new connections.
Safaricom and Zuku own 65% of the fixed Internet market. Jamii Telecommunications comes in third with 18.9 per cent, followed by Poa Internet (9.1 per cent).
Fixed-income demand as a result of the coronavirus, people are working from home, and schools are implementing e-learning.
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