Niko na Safaricom.. I am and will always be with Safaricom.. Why??
2:32 AM Posted In Africa , Airtel , Bharti , CCK , Kenya , Michael Joseph , Mobile , Safaricom , Zain Edit This 4 Comments »
Over the last few days, we have witnessed a major turbulence in the Kenyan market. With the CCK guidelines and backing to lower the calling rates, Zain slashed it rates by flat 50% along with the messaging rates. And that took the market with storm, even though for a short while. There were people who started calling Safaricom names and some even said that Safaricom has a very capitalistic approach and has exploited the Kenyans with its high rates. We even saw Zain stooping down low and playing the ‘bendover’ song right in front of the Safaricom HQ, which to me was in a bad taste because you don’t expect dignified companies to react like this. During all this, Safaricom maintained the decorum in a dignified way and without disappointment to its users, even slashed the calling rates.
However we as Kenyans need to look at a bigger picture and analyze the whole situation. When I say that I am and always be with Safaricom, I do have my own valid reasons. I would write them down in just 3 points and expect you people to respond with your opinion on the same.
1. Quality and Coverage: -
I have been on both Safaricom and Zain for more than 3 years now and the kind of service both the companies provide is drastically different. Even when I have been on my wild Safaris around Kenya, I have always remained connected with my folks and friends via Safaricom. Zain’s customer care and network coverage are still an issue and I wonder if they grow in number of subscribers, how would they maintain their existing standards, forget improving them, given that they were already in loss and with the present tariff they would be doomed in a longer run.
2. Safaricom is seriously Kenyan, just like us: -
With 35% shares owned by the Govt. and 25% shares owned by Kenyans like us, Sh 4.8 billion out of the total Sh8 billion dividend is actually coming to Kenyans itself. Safaricom has always and is continuing to invest in the Kenya itself with new and improved products.
3. Owned by the people, not by a person: -
Unlike the competition, Safaricom is a public listed company and is the biggest firm by capitalization on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. Safaricom is answerable to its shareholders which includes the common people and the Govt. It cannot price the calls below the cost, not because it can’t afford but because Safaricom understands very well that a price war is not at all good for the whole Kenyan ecosystem which includes us the common people.
Now, I leave this conversation open for you people to take it forward and give me your opinions about the same… What do you guys think? Niko na Safaricom, what about you?
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4 comments:
I have been in Safaricom for over 7 years now, but their failure to lower their calling rates in favor of the average Kenyan who can't afford to spend 100 on air time in order to enjoy the "So CALLED CHEAP CALLS" has obligated me to move to Zain, plus from my previous experience with Safaricom's tariff's, I think that Safaricom are just out to cheat us, how can they say that I can call for 80 cents per min and when I start making a phone call they automatically raise the the call charges, and another issue is that I can't recall the last time I got connected to the Safaricom Customer care service, that line is always busy unlike Zain's which is online accessible. If Safaricom is not going to look into these issues, then I'd sadly say that they are going to loose a larger share of the market,
i second timothy...as much as safaricom has been there 4 lik 4eva if they are not careful Zain will dominate d market coz u cant compare a network that gives cheap call rates to its customers despite d amount of airtime u top up wid wea d call rates r favourin thos who top up wid mo airtime....I thot it was suposd 2 cater 4 all...
I'm a Safaricom share holder so it would not make sense for me to build a rival company and neglect my own. So no moving for me.
A lot of people have claimed that Safaricom was "ripping off" its customers but I beg to differ. They have simply been doing smart business and as a result generating users and revenue. There has been nothing to stop the other companies doing the same.
In that respect what Zain has done is a smart business move and time will tell if it pays off.
I live near the Ugandan border and i must say that comparing Safaricom and Zain in these areas would be unfair to Zain. I'm on both service providers but in our area, we are forced to make international calls on MTN Uganda even though we are in Kenya. I also agree with Zain when it claims to be the strongest network in Kenya. My experience has taught me to always rely on it. The data offers by Zain are also way much better than those those by Safaricom. Safaricom is Kenyan, but they need to look into the affairs of that Kenyan down there, I have a feeling that Safaricom is for those in the higher bracket of the Kenyan population, not the typical mwananchi, but again, i'm ready to listen to opposing views.
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