There are more than 41.4 million smartphones connected to mobile networks in Kenya while feature phone use is declining, data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows.
- •Kenya now has 72 million mobile phone devices connected to networks, translating to a penetration rate of 139.8%.
- •Smart phones maintained an upward trend at a penetration rate of 80.5% while feature phones dropped to 59.3%.
- •The data also shows that Machine-to-Machine subscriptions grew by 8.6% to 1.9 million from 1,764,574 in the last three months of 2024.
“The increase in smartphone penetration coupled with increased need for online activities such as streaming movies, online learning, remote work among others accelerated demand for high-speed internet leading to increased uptake of mobile broadband especially 4G and 5G. ,” notes CA.
“Active mobile (SIM) subscriptions grew by 2.0% in comparison to 1.6 percent growth recorded at the end of September 2024. This growth is mainly attributed to the busy festive season that runs within the same period pushing active SIMs to 71.4 million and a penetration rate of 138.5%.”
The rapid uptake in smartphones is attributable to the increased expansion of mobile broadband networks across the country that currently stands at 97.0% population coverage. Availability and affordability of smartphones coupled with increased demand for access to digital services have further pushed smartphone penetration.
Overall, Safaricom maintains its lead, controlling the largest share of 46,567, 767, followed by Airtel 21,517, 842 as Jamii (JTL) trails at 66,744. Equity Bank’s Equitel has more active mobile subscriptions than Telkom Kenya, after surpassing the state-backed telco between July and September last year.
Outgoing domestic voice traffic grew by 4.6% while domestic SMS traffic increased by 3.3 percent to 14.1 billion messages.
Airtel Networks Limited reported the highest on-net minutes per call at 2.7 which was a drop from last quarter’s 2.8 minutes. On the other hand, Safaricom PLC and Jamii Telecommunications Ltd reported the highest minutes per off net call at 1.4.
