Kenya's biggest mobile network Safaricom is making progress in acquiring the infrastructure of smaller rival yuMobile.

This is according to Safaricom chief executive officer (CEO) Bob Collymore speaking to ITWeb Africa about the planned acquisition.

The deal has been a complicated affair since it was first made public in March, with Safaricom in April saying it had withdrawn from negotiations owing to stringent terms attached by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

But earlier this month Safaricom confirmed it had re-entered the bidding, and that it expected to complete the acquisition within months after offering KES8 billion.

Subsequently, Collymore has told ITWeb Africa that while progress has been made on the deal, it would have to be subject to approval from the CA, the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and Safaricom shareholders, with the company's annual general meeting (AGM) planned to take place next month.

"Things are on the move again," Collymore said.

"Approval of Shareholders will be requested at the upcoming AGM for the purchase of the towers, spectrum and other specific assets - including a number of staff - if the relevant approvals from CA and CAK are given and gazetted," he added.

Collymore told ITWeb Africa that Safaricom is still waiting for the CA to Gazette its 'No Objection', and for the CAK to obtain regulatory approval from a competition perspective before it can ask shareholders to vote on the acquisition.

The most recent ICT Sector Quarterly Statistics Report released by the CA showed Kenya's mobile market was continuing to grow, with prepaid subscriptions increasing to 31.2 million between January and March this year from 30.7 million during the previous quarter. Postpaid subscriptions registered growth of 8.4%, reaching 607,569 subscriptions in the quarter.

Safaricom continues to lead the field - seeing growth to 67.9% market share in the first three months of this year - with Essar Telkom, which currently owns yuMobile, seeing its market share fall to 8.2%.