NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 15 – Six months after Telkom ditched the Orange brand and took a new strategic direction, the telco has grown its customer base by one million to hit 3.85 million subscribers.
Telkom Chief Marketing Officer Levi Nyakundi says the rapid acquisition of new customers is a result of the investments the company has made to improve its infrastructure, including a Sh5 billion network modernization leading to the launch of its 4G network that is now available in 32 towns and urban centres across the country.
Nyakundi says going forward the firm is set to invest in the second phase of network modernization and expansion of 3G and 4G networks throughout the country.
The company hopes to get its mobile money license from the Central Bank of Kenya, “within a few days,” according to Nyakundi.
The telco, however, is still of the view that the telecommunication sector is slanted and dominance issues in the sector need to be looked at.
“We have been called by the regulator Communication Authority of Kenya together with other stakeholders in the industry on February 20th, 2018 to discuss the issue of dominance in the industry; we hope that this will help in streamlining the sector to a level playing field,” he said.
The firm hopes to hit the four million mark in the first quarter of 2018 and has embarked on a promotion, where it will be giving a Toyota Belta every day for the next 50 days.
The ‘form ni 50’ campaign is open to all Telkom prepaid subscribers.
For a chance to win, subscribers need to top up at least Sh20 to gain a single entry to the daily draws.
“We remain committed to delivering best possible value to our customers and it is consumer engagement campaigns such as these and others that will deliver on our value proposition for the long term,” he added.
In 2016, former majority shareholder, the Orange Group (formerly France Telecom), sold its majority stake in the Kenyan Telco to UK Private Equity firm, Helios Investment Partners.