Telkom Kenya has today shifted its fixed landline business to the mobile platform. This move is set to lower call rates by 60 per cent. The firm says the use of the mobile platform to deliver its landline product will reduce tariffs from Ksh6 to Ksh2 per minute for calls within its network (on-net calls) while those to other networks (off-net calls) will cost Ksh3 from Ksh12.
This is with effort to cut reliance on copper lines that are prone to vandalism and seek a low- cost delivery channel that will help the firm claim dominance in the voice market. Telkom Kenya market share based on traffic stood at 1.3 per cent in March.
Telkom Kenya CEO, Mickael Ghossein, said the high cost of running landline business that has been hit by the growth in the mobile telephone business, which commands nearly 30 million subscribers from 1.3 million in 2002, has made it difficult for the firm to match its telco rivals.
“As part of our greater network transformation programme, our customers on our fixed wire line service will be able to migrate with their numbers to the wireless version of our fixed voice service,” said Mr. Ghossein in statement.
Telkom Kenya will offer wireless phones at Ksh4, 500, with the hope that the migration and lower calls rates act as incentives to attract companies, who are their main target given they have remained loyal to the use of fixed line phones.
