SAFARICOM HARMONISES INTERNET PRICES FOR BUSINESSES

The company Introduces new internet for business packages as part of its commitment to be simple, transparent, honest

In a fast advancing world, internet service is becoming the lifeblood of modern business. Every organisation, not only in the country but globally needs business internet connectivity that is fast, reliable and affordable to communicate internally with employees and externally with customers.

While this is the case, unreliable internet connection can be more of a liability to a firm than an advantage. It has more repercussions on a business that can be costly leading to businesses coming to a hard stop, hence affecting sales, customer relationship management and profits.

E-commerce

Recent government data shows that the rapid growth in mobile and internet networks can create more opportunities for the development and deployment of innovations and e-commerce for businesses.

According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) fourth quarter sector statistics report, the number of data/ Internet networks in the country currently stands at 49.9 million with 99.9 percent being on mobile data. This was an increase of 21.4 percent since 30th June 2018.

Besides favourable government policies, affordability was one of the reasons attributed to this growth. At the forefront of driving this development is mobile service provider Safaricom. In its 2019 annual report, for instance, the telco reported that its fibre footprint has now passed nearly 300,000 homes and more than 2,000 buildings. Its Fibre To The Business (FTTB) achieved 2,400 fibre ready buildings, a +24% growth in the year with 6,800 enterprises enjoying FTTB across 19 towns.

In its latest internet for business announcement, Safaricom released new internet packages which seek to provide uninterrupted, high-speed connectivity for small to medium-sized businesses at affordable costs.

Internet business for Safaricom means bundled internet connectivity (Primary Link + Secondary Link), a telephone landline, cloud storage and domain registration into a convenient single package for a medium-sized or corporate enterprise.

Under the new pricing structure, the company introduced three new options from as low as Kshs. 3,999 for 3 Mbps monthly unlimited internet connectivity delivered through Safaricom fibre. The other options in the new package include Kshs. 5,499 for 5 Mbps and Kshs. 14,999 for 10 Mbps.

Brand promise

“As part of our new brand promise, we committed to being simple, transparent and honest across all our products and operations. As part of this pledge, we are renewing our promise to our enterprise customers by introducing packages that suit their business needs, optimising our response time and by ensuring we deliver simple solutions with easy and transparent processes,” said Michael Joseph, CEO, Safaricom.

Safaricom has already connected close to 3,000 buildings to its proprietary fibre infrastructure and plans to have another 1,500 buildings connected by March 2020.

In October 2019, the telco marked 19 years since it launched by unveiling a new strategy and renewing its commitment to its customers. As part of the brand refresh campaign, Safaricom introduced a single calling and SMS plan as well as a single data plan for all customers. In an industry first, both plans offer calling minutes , SMS and data bundles with no expiry date.

Customers can also purchase calling minutes, SMS and data bundles for any amount from as low as one shilling, upon which they can see how much resources they will get before the purchase is completed.

The company also increased its data bundle sizes by more than 45 percent especially for the more affordable price points of between one and twenty shillings. In addition to the data manager where customers can choose between higher and lower data speeds, Safaricom will also inform them when they are charged for premium services.

In essence, the difference between a business class of service and residential Internet service is often glossed over due to expense – but it shouldn’t be. Instead, a fast and reliable internet connection delivered via wireless technology or fibre to your business premises, value for money, dedicated and burstable capacity and a 24/7 support contribute to the flourishing of your business.