The recent merger between Telcos Airtel and Telkom is perhaps the genesis of Safaricom’s longed tame of its market dominance.
Last year, Safaricom had about 29.6 million subscribers in July year while Airtel had about 8.5 million in the same period, according to Communications Authority (CA).
In the period, Safaricom lost about 1.6 per cent of its market share to its competitors. The competitors’ subscribers rose against Safaricom’s which resulted to reduction of the market share.
In a 2015 report, Safaricom was accused by Communication Authority of abusing its market dominance which set the regulator and the giant Telco into a row.
The new merger between Airtel and Telkom may not bring down Safaricom soon since its market dominance is widely felt.
During last year’s third quarter market analysis by CA, Airtel had a share of 22.3 percent and Telkom 9.0 percent. Combined, the 33.3 percent is about half of Safaricom’s 64.2 percent, still too small to take down Safaricom.
One of the most used Safaricom’s product is Mpesa whose revenue of Sh55.084 billion in 2017 comprised about a quarter of Safaricom’s total revenue of Sh212.885 billion according to its yearly financial results.
Airtel-Telkom merger may likely leverage on fluctuating and high data and voice costs by Safaricom which puts off many customers.
Airtel commands a bigger share in voice market of 4.78 billion minutes rallying behind Safaricom with 8.93 billion minutes.