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Orange Kenya cuts SMS and voice tariffs

By , ITWeb
Kenya , 15 Apr 2013

Orange Kenya cuts SMS and voice tariffs

Kenyan mobile operator Orange, which is operated by Telkom Kenya, has slashed its voice and SMS tariffs, in a bid to boost its market share.

Orange announced late last week a 25% drop in off-net voice charges as well as a 50% cut in off-net SMS tariffs.

Meanwhile, calls from Orange to other networks have dropped from Sh4 to Sh3 per minute while the firm’s SMS tariff, which was pegged at Sh2 has been reduced to Sh1. The cost of Orange-to-Orange calls, including to Telkom fixed line calls, are however planned to remain at Sh2 per minute.

The new tariff offer, dubbed Tujuane, will run up to May 31.

Orange Kenya chief executive Mickael Ghossein said that the revised tariffs are Orange's response to ‘price elasticity’ in the local telco market.

Statistics from Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) statistics dating from July and September last year have shown that Orange has been losing subscribers while rivals are gaining. Safaricom limited gained 214,228 new subscribers; Airtel limited gained 199,936 growth whereas Telkom Kenya (Orange) lost 28,472 representing 0.9 % decline between July and September last year.

By end of September, Orange had 3.09 million subscribers and though it held a market share of 10.2%, it only accounted for 1.1% of the voice traffic share in the market.

Safaricom, Airtel and Yu Mobile all charge Sh3 per minute for off-net voice calls.

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