By Macharia Kamau
Zain Kenya has increased the scope of its roaming services to include data.
The mobile operator yesterday said it had signed agreements with 45 telecommunication operators around the world, that would see it expand international roaming coverage for data services.
Service providers have previously placed emphasis on voice services for roaming subscribers, but data is now gaining popularity.
The firm said the new partnerships would enable its customers’ use their phones or modems to access the Internet, mail and other data applications in more than 130 countries worldwide. This follows an agreement allowing it data access through the GPRS service.
Emphasis on data
Managing Director Rene Meza said Zain was now placing more emphasis on data in the new partnerships following an upsurge in demand for the services.
"The new destinations, which are largely in Western Europe and North America, have been mapped following a careful study of international traffic," he said.
Currently, Zain subscribers are not charged roaming fees when travelling around 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the parent company has operations.
Zain Kenya has roaming agreements with over 400 telecommunications operators worldwide.
"In the past, demand for roaming was restricted to voice services predominantly in the post paid customer segment," Mr Meza said.
Last year, Zain Kenya’s data business recorded good growth due to the new Internet access modems for the pre-paid customer segment.
