This archive report was first published on 8 July 2021.
Published on July 8, 2021, a new law taxing airtime took effect, prompting Kenya's leading telecommunications firm Safaricom to increase its voice, text, and data prices.
According to the revised rates, voice calls on Safaricom's network will now be priced at Sh.4.87 per minute in peak hours and Sh.2.50 per minute in off-peak hours, up from Sh.3.50 and Sh.1.80 respectively per minute.
The cost of sending an SMS has also increased, with Safaricom customers now paying Sh. 1.20, up from 87 cents. Additionally, the cost of browsing using airtime (without bundles) will rise at a similar rate of change to voice calls.
However, Safaricom's consumer data bundle prices remain unchanged. The company's FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home) prices have also been revised, with the lowest bandwidth offer of 8 megabytes per second now costing Sh. 2,999, while the premium (diamond package) 100 Mbps will cost Sh. 12,499.
With this increase, Safaricom becomes the third telecommunications firm to revise its prices upwards after Airtel and Telkom, although voice, text, and data prices are still cheaper on Airtel and Telkom.
