Safaricom, Ltd is a leading mobile network operator in Kenya. It was formed
in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya. In May 2000, Vodafone
Group Plc of the United Kingdom acquired a 40% stake and management
responsibility for the company. As of May 9, 2015, Bob Collymore is the
CEO; he succeeded Michael Joseph on November 1, 2010, after Joseph's ten
years as Safaricom CEO. Robert Collymore has spent most of his career in the
telecommunications industry starting with British Telecommunications where he
held a number of marketing, purchasing and commercial roles over a 15-year
period. Recent reports appearing in the cross section of the press indicate that
Vodafone Plc of UK only owns 35% and the remaining 5% is owned by a little-known
company, Mobitelea Ventures Limited. The reports have caused a stir which led to
the summoning of its CEO Michael Joseph to appear before the PIC "Public
Investment Committee", during which he denied knowing who the other shareholder
is. A spokesman for Vodafone said "the PIC has no powers to investigate M&A
activity, only to ask to view company accounts of Vodafone Kenya Limited, a
company registered in Kenya. Mobitelea Ventures Limited were granted an option
to purchase 25% of Vodafone's shares which they completed in 2002, Vodafone
bought back half of the stake in 2003 for $10m, and in the financial year
ending 31 March 2009 purchased the remaining indirect equity stake of 5%,
thus returning Vodafone to its original 40% stakeholding. Vodafone said that
whilst it would like to disclose who owns Mobitelea it is unable to because
of a confidentiality agreement. Safaricom employs over 1,500 people
mainly stationed in Nairobi and other big cities like Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru
and Eldoret in which it manages retail outlets. Currently, it has nationwide
dealerships to ensure customers across the country have access to its products
and services. As of January 2010, Safaricom boasts a
subscriber base of approximately 12 million, most of whom are in the major
cities - Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru.
Its headquarters are located in Safaricom House, Waiyaki Way in
Westlands, Nairobi. It has other offices in the city center in I&M building,
Kenyatta Avenue, on Kimathi Street and at Shankardass House, next to Kenya
Cinema Moi Avenue. Its main rival is Airtel Kenya. Other
rivals include Essar's YU and Orange Wireless.
Safaricom has charitable functions where it helps the less fortunate in the
society mostly through the Safaricom Foundation.
In November 2012, Safaricom announced it would be offering a new mobile phone
banking product in conjunction with the Commercial Bank of Africa, tapping into
an underdeveloped financial services market. In 2014 Safaricom partnered with
Britam and Changamka Micro Health to provide insurance to Kenyans with low
income. It is known as Linda Jamii. History
Safaricom was started in 1993 as a department of the former state-owned
telecommunications operate, Kenya Post and Telecommunication Corporation. In
1997, Safaricom Limited was incorporated as a private limited liability company
with 40% ownership held by Vodafone Kenya Limited. In 2002, it was converted
to a public company while the government held 60% of the shares, 25% of which
would be auctioned off in 2008 on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Safaricom
has introduced a number of services to Kenya and been a leading player in the
mobile market and national economy. Flashback service
As a result of the limited income of most of Safaricom's customers, network
congestion emerges from a practice called 'flashing'. Flashing is the
practice of calling another mobile user, but disconnecting before the connected
call is answered. It provides a method for mobile users to alert someone that
they wish to be called, but either can't, or won't, pay for the call. The
method is cost-free for the users; but costly in network bandwidth.
That is why Safaricom sometime ago introduced a flashback service that gave
every subscriber five free SMS messages with a single pre-defined message
stating "Please call me. Thank you". Although the messages can be annoying
when sent just for fun they are very useful when one is in trouble and has no
airtime. It also gives parents more of a reason to get mobile phone for their
children without the real need for getting them airtime. However, at this
time, the flashbacks can only be sent to Safaricom subscribers due to some feuds
with Airtel, Safaricom's main competitor.
Electronic cash service Safaricom has developed and launched
nationwide a mobile banking service called M-PESA, that allows Kenyans to
transfer money via SMS. The service does not require users to have bank accounts,
an important aspect in a country like Kenya, where many people do not have
bank accounts. With M-PESA, the user can buy digital funds at any M-PESA agent
and send that electric cash to any other mobile phone user in Kenya, who can then
redeem it for conventional cash at any agent. This system is remotely
comparable to hawala banking or services like Western Union. An M-PESA-enabled
mobile phone can also function as an electronic wallet and can hold up to
100,000 Kenyan shilling. Safaricom stakeholder Vodafone, which partnered in
the development of M-PESA, has announced that it intends to roll out M-PESA
internationally as well. Kipokezi service
Safaricom launched the Kipokezi service in May 2000 that enabled its subscribers
to send and receive email and online chat through standard mobile phones. Any
phone with SMS service can use Kipokezi. Prior to the service fewer than one in
ten Kenyans had accessed the Internet but the Kipokezi launch allowed more
than a third of the population to exchange email and online chat messages.
The Kipokezi is provided by ForgetMeNot Africa.
The service does not require users to have an Internet connection as it uses
ForgetMeNot Africa’s Handset Initiation technology.
Other services Safaricom together with many other
companies have come up with different services for use by the public ranging
from weather updates to market prices and even entertainment updates. The
company has plans to provide Wi-Fi internet connection in large malls, SMEs
and government agencies in Kenya With regards to customer support
services, the company has chosen to reduce support via phone calls opting to
use the social media especially Facebook. Customers calling the support
numbers receive an automated message informing them about support via social
media sites, the call then automatically disconnects with a message saying that
all customer support representatives are busy.
Controversy Safaricom has been accused of unfair
competition and has tried to discredit its competitors in recent years.
Internet connectivity It was the first company in East Africa
to possess 3G Internet technology with recent success of 4G / LTE connectivity
currently in Nairobi and Mombasa. Safaricom use LTE
Frequency band GSM and 3G 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz LTE-A
service in Nairobi and Mombasa on band 20 and band 3 [2]
See also Mobitelea Ventures Limited
References 16.
amble-for-frequencies539550--/index.html External links
Official website Safaricom Foundation
Emerging Market Telecom Company Analysis