Safaricom Subscribers Hit 3 Million
Friday, September 16, 2005
Mobile phone service provider Safaricom has attained the three million active subscriber mark ahead of its fifth year birthday next month.
“Aside from installing a new highly advanced Intelligent Network (IN) platform, our growth this year has been largely driven by our rural expansion, and a range of new products and services,” chief executive officer Michael Joseph said.
He described the signing of the three millionth subscriber as a “momentous feat.”
Safaricom is a joint venture firm between Telkom Kenya and Vodafone Group Plc. It was re-launched in 2000, and at the time, it was hoping to hit the three millionth subscriber mark in 2020, a press statement form the company said.
Safaricom’s rapid growth this year, Mr Joseph said, had been driven by the firm’s decision to roll out a Sh14billion network upgrade and expansion project.
Last year the firm invested more than Sh12.4 billion in capital expenditure programmes raising the total capital investment in the past four years to Sh38 billion.
To sustain the anticipated growth, the firm extended its coverage to more than 150 new trading centres
It hit the two million subscriber mark in October last year.
This year the firm unveiled a range of products and services, including the Sambaza airtime sharing service, among others. It also ranks high among the leading taxpayers in Kenya, having paid a total of Sh30.4 billion in duties, taxes and license fees over the past four years.
