Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Telkom Kenya reduces calling charges

Written By:Rose Kamau , Posted: Wed, Aug 25, 2010



Caption: Telkom Kenya CEO Mickael Ghossein asked CCK to reconsider the recommended rates for GSM


As the mobile wars in Kenya escalate integrated telecommunications provider Telkom Kenya Wednesday announced a reduced on net tariff of Ksh 2 and slashed its off net tariff to Ksh 4 for its GSM customers.

The company also announced daily free calls for its subscribers from 10 am to 5 pm for only Ksh 100 top up per month across all Orange networks such as Orange mobile, Orange wireless and Telkom Fixed (landline).

"Effective today midnight, both our Orange GSM post and pre- paid customers will enjoy a new call and SMS rates of 2 shillings per minute for calls and 1 shilling for SMS whereas calls to other networks will be charged at 4 shillings per minute and 2 shillings per SMS respectively," said Telkom CEO Mickael Ghossein.

However Ghossein took issue with the CCK's recommended tariff for Global System for Mobile phones (GSM) put at Ksh 1.67 saying it was not sustainable as it did not take into consideration running costs as well as network maintenance costs and asked the regulator to reconsider the rates.

Exuding optimism about the future of Telkom Kenya following the new tariff, Mr. Ghossein added: "We will continue to maintain a strong focus on strengthening our distribution and network capability with a view to ensuring that our customers consistently enjoy value for money through provision of reliable and quality services."

The new tariffs were developed in tandem with Telkom Kenya's integrated business model and Ghossein says the company would soon announce new tariffs for its Orange Wireless and Telkom Fixed (landline).

"We do not intend to engage in price wars since our strategy is clear on providing value for our customers, better customer care and quality of service. Despite the current market frenzy, Orange is determined to keep leadership in data and value added services," he said.

Ghossein said Telkom Kenya was committed to the development and sustainability of the Kenyan market, as an upcoming hub for regional telecommunication and has taken a long term view of the industry in rolling out its business model.

"With our extensive national coverage of infrastructure which carries voice and data, our customers should rest assured that we will continue to give them better integrated services at the most competitive price," he said.

The mobile wars followed the revision of interconnection rates by the Communications Commission of Kenya which directed the service providers to reduce their calling rates by 50%.

Zain Kenya responded to the directive by reducing its charges to a flat rate of 3 shillings to all networks while Yu mobile also lowered its charges to 3 shillings.

On Tuesday Safaricom, the largest mobile service provider in the country announced a reduction of its rates to 2 shillings on-net and 3 shillings off net. However Safaricom rates are dependent on the amount of airtime a subscriber purchases and the offer runs for one month unlike the other providers whose offers are permanent.

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