Kenyans' mobile use questioned

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Kenya has been called into question in a new report challenging the country’s much-hyped digital success narrative.

A report by GSMA - a trade body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide - into sub-Saharan Africa’s mobile economy indicates that the country’s mobile penetration currently stands at 28 million people, translating to 59 per cent of the population.

This is much lower than the latest figures given by the industry regulator, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), which put the mobile penetration at 39 million, translating to 88 per cent of the population.

The report now ranks Kenya 11th in the continent in terms of mobile connectivity behind several other countries such as Gambia, Mali, Ghana, and Gabon, and seven points behind the global average of 66 per cent. In its ranking GSMA looked at unique mobile subscribers, ignoring users who have multiple SIM cards - a common trait among mobile subscribers in Kenya and other developing countries.

This is against CA’s method, which counts each individual SIM card as a subscriber, meaning a mobile user registered across three networks is counted as three mobile subscribers.

This has, however, been criticised as an inaccurate measure of mobile penetration and not fully indicative of how mobile subscribers utilise their devices.

Traditional services

“Multiple SIM ownership is declining mainly due to fewer price arbitrage opportunities, better network quality, and stringent SIM registration requirements,” said the GSMA report. Subscribers are grouped as 'aficionados', 'pragmatists', 'networkers', and 'talkers' based on their usage, with aficionados considered heavy users of all mobile technologies while talkers are characterised by low usage of traditional services such as voice.

Close to 65 per cent of Kenyans are classified as talkers while less than five per cent are classified as aficionados.