Kenyans spent over 27 billion minutes on phone calls in three months - CA report

Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that Kenyans spent a record 27.4 billion minutes on phone calls between October and December, 2024 a surge attributed to attractive call offers and increased mobile penetration.

Airtel Kenya subscribers accounted for the highest call durations, speaking nearly twice as long as Safaricom users. The CA attributes this to Airtel's lower call tariffs and special offers.

On average, an Airtel user’s call within the network lasted 2.7 minutes, compared to 1.6 minutes for Safaricom and 1.5 minutes for Telkom Kenya subscribers.

CA also indicates that subscribers of Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom Kenya increased their call durations by 4.6 per cent compared to the 26.2 billion minutes recorded in the previous quarter ending September.

The report further reveals that Kenyans made an average of 298 million minutes of calls daily, marking a historic high as mobile phone penetration continues to deepen. The CA observed that this surge was largely due to enticing promotions run by service providers during the period.

“This growth is attributed to special offers and promotions run by service providers during the review period, where consumers could pay as low as Sh20 for 10 minutes of all-net calls, 20 SMS, and 50 MB of data,” the CA noted in its report.

Breaking barriers

The role of mobile phones in Kenya’s economic and social growth has been significant, breaking barriers posed by traditional landline infrastructure and providing a low-cost means of communication and financial transactions.

CA data shows that Kenya had a total of 72 million mobile devices in the review period, comprising 41.4 million smartphones and 30.5 million feature phones.

Meanwhile, mobile data subscriptions also hit a new record, growing to 56.1 million in the three months to December from 53.7 million in the quarter to September.

“Such growth is due to online activities such as streaming movies, online learning, remote work, among others, which have accelerated demand for high-speed internet, leading to increased uptake of higher generation mobile technologies such as 4G and 5G,” the regulator said.

Experts argue that reducing taxes on web-enabled devices to make them more affordable could boost digital connectivity and help tap into artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

In the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, active mobile phone subscriptions rose to 70 million.

CA said this represented a 1.6 per cent increase from 68.9 million in the previous quarter.

It attributed the rise in subscriptions to better network coverage, affordable smartphones, and improved mobile services, such as faster internet and innovative apps.

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The report noted that the increase has pushed Kenya’s mobile penetration to an all-time high of 135.8 per cent, reflecting the growing demand for connectivity both in urban and rural areas.