Mobile subscriptions fall by 125k on SIM deactivations

Mobile subscriptions fall by 125k on SIM deactivations

The number of active mobile/SIM subscriptions fell by 124,689 between January and March according to new sector statistics.

The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has tied the fall in mobile subscriptions to deactivations under the ongoing SIM registration process.

“The decline in SIM subscriptions is partly attributed to the ongoing SIM registration exercise during which a number of SIM cards have been deactivated,” the CA stated.

Subsequently, the number of active mobile subscriptions has fallen to 64.9 million from 65.1 million at the end of December last year.

This slightly trims the rate of mobile penetration to 131.4 per cent.

The fall in mobile subscriptions has followed a slack in new mobile subscriptions over recent months which has been primarily tied to the decommissioning of the USSD customer acquisition channel.

Mobile subscriptions between October and December last year for instance grew by a mere 0.3 per cent as operators fully adopted app channels for SIM registration.

The subscriptions were also up by a mere 0.78 per cent between July and September for similar reasons.

Telco operator Safaricom continues to dominate the number of active mobile subscriptions at 42.4 million or a respective 65.3 per cent market share ahead of Airtel-16.7 million and Telkom Kenya at 4.1 million.

98 per cent of mobile subscriptions remain as pre-pay contracts with postpaid paid customers’ representing a minority two per cent of total subscriptions.

Mobile money subscriptions are nevertheless up by 1.2 million over the opening quarter of the year at 36.4 million taking Kenya’s mobile money penetration rate to 73.8 per cent.

In April this year, CA extended the SIM card registration deadline to October 15 to ensure operators meet a 100 per cent rate of compliance.

The registration exercise is likely to trim the number of mobile subscriptions further in the near term.

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SIM cards Citizen Digital Communication Authority of Kenya (CA)

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