See how Kenya's mobile market is heating up here: http://www.amgoo.com/blog/mobile-industry-in-africa-kenyas-mobile-market-is-heating-up Kenya's mobile market, a hot commodity! Tweet: With the number of smartphone shipments expected to reach 1.2bn this year, growth in the market will be driven by emerging markets, due to a continued surge in sales and adoption of low-cost Economy ($75-$150) and Ultra-Economy (sub-$75) smartphones. The mobile industry in Africa is one such market that has seen unprecedented growth in the past few years and is home to the world's leading mobile payments market, Kenya! A country of majestic plains and natural beauty, Kenya and its mobile industry have come a long way since strict government restrictions were liberalized in recent times and is a sector that is still seeing upward growth. Sustained growth in the mobile sector Tweet: With a population of 44.35 million, Kenya's mobile penetration is relatively high at a rate of 78.2%. The country is a hotbed for mobile app development with mobile payments app M-Pesa leading the charge as well as many other innovative, app based solutions being created to combat some of the regions pressing concerns! In Q4 of the 2013-2014 financial year, mobile subscriptions grew by 5.6% to reach 32.2 million with Safaricom accounting for 20.8 million, Airtel 5.5 million, Essar 2.8 million and Telkom 2.2 million, according to the regulator. Network operators have consistently invested about a quarter of revenue into network upgrades in recent years. The increase in mobile subscriptions, investment in 3G mobile broadband services and mobile banking as well as a surge in data usage has brought in additional revenue for telcos, but with intense competition heating up the sector in many forms, Kenya's mobile future is in for quite the ride!

1. Mobile Industry in Africa: Kenya's mobile market is
heating up
amgoo.com /blog/mobile-industry-in-africa-kenyas-mobile-market-is-heating-up
Nov 19, 2014 6:54:10 AM
Kenya's mobile market, a hot commodity!
Tweet: With the number of smartphone shipments expected to reach 1.2bn this year, growth in the
market will be driven by emerging markets, due to a continued surge in sales and adoption of low-cost
Economy ($75-$150) and Ultra-Economy (sub-$75) smartphones.
The mobile industry in Africa is one such market that has seen unprecedented growth in the past few
years and is home to the world's leading mobile payments market, Kenya! A country of majestic
plains and natural beauty, Kenya and its mobile industry have come a long way since strict government
restrictions were liberalized in recent times and is a sector that is still seeing upward growth.
Sustained growth in the mobile sector
In Q4 of the 2013-2014 financial year, mobile subscriptions grew by 5.6% to reach 32.2 million with
Safaricom accounting for 20.8 million, Airtel 5.5 million, Essar 2.8 million and Telkom 2.2 million,
according to the regulator. Network operators have consistently invested about a quarter of revenue
into network upgrades in recent years. The increase in mobile subscriptions, investment in 3G mobile
broadband services and mobile banking as well as a surge in data usage has brought in additional
revenue for telcos, but with intense competition heating up the sector in many forms, Kenya's mobile
future is in for quite the ride!

2. Healthy competition
Competition in the mobile industry is as fierce an industry as any out there and Kenya's operators are
certainly feeling the squeeze. With falling average revenue per user (ARPU) in the voice market, the
government taking a unique open-access approach with plans to licence a multi-faceted consortium to
operate 4G LTE networks, and regulators licensing three mobile virtual network operators, or
MVNOs—Finserve Africa, Mobile Pay, and Zioncell Kenya, as well as the recent addition of Airtel
backed Kenya Airways (KQ) entering the foray, competition is at an all time high! But all this adds to the
competitive mix and it is something that the Kenyan government backs.
According to Communications Secretary Fred Matiang’i, increased competition in the
telecommunications industry will ensure customers are able to shop around for the best service and
prices, it will prompt operators to deliver quality services and investors will have the opportunity to
exercise their creativity and investment capacity.
How can operators stay competitive?

3. With smartphones and particularly entry level smartphones set to infiltrate the mass market in the
coming months, the remainder of the populace to be connected presents an opportunity for operators
that are able to meet the demand. Increasing competition will allow end users to shop around for the
best deals and service and this is an area where operators can really state their dominance in the
market! Telcos need to be leveraging high quality, low cost devices to help them attract more
subscribers to their network. Affordable, feature rich 3G smartphones will continue to help drive
revenue earned by mobile data subscriptions and operators can use these devices to help bridge the
gap between smart and feature phone!
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markets around the globe. We combine advanced research and development with engineers from
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4. Topics: Operators, Africa mobile industry