Zains New Vuka Tariff !

Zain Kenya yesterday launched a new product VUKA tariff plan that will see their subscribers pay Kenya Shillings 8/- per minute on per second billing accross all networks!!!SMS cost is Kenya Shillings 3 bob per SMS accross all networks. That is the cheapest tariff charges being offered in Kenya among the major networks i.e Safaricom, Orange and Econet !Zain has taken a bruising battle to Safaricom and unlike previous practice Safaricom slumbers and continues to take the fatal blows to the dismay of its subscribers!

Safaricom IPO:
I believe that my opinion article on Safaricom Slumber is now starting to bear its truth.With the new Vuka Tariff much awaits to be seen as to how Safaricom's marketing department will counter this threat.My motto is "NEVER LOOSE A CUSTOMER".I hope Safaricom has a similar mindset.The Safaricom IPO marked the begining towards the declination of vodafone's affiliate company - Safaricom's dominance of the Kenyan mobile market! The Mobitelea Shares controversy didnt even make the matter better.I pity Safaricom shareholders as their shares continue to decline!


The Vuka Tariff Ripple:
For Zain Subscribers to change subscription to the New Vuka tariff all they need to do is dial *123*8# if on pre -paid tariff or dial *128*8# if on postpaid tariff.Vuka is value for money.Thanks Zain!Safaricom sleep still and sleep some more remember Orange and Zain are now here and with unlocked dual SIM phones around watch your subscriber base erode !

Twitter-Twittads And Blogging !

Many Western bloggers use twitter to generate traffic and follow up on blogs or on activities of friends of interest.During post election crisis Kenyan Blogger Ory Okolloh of KenyanPundit fame updated her readers via sms using twitter on election violence and this gave birth to the award winning website Ushahidi.Com but the use of Twitter is not so widespread or well known among internet users in Sub -Saharan Africa.

I personally use Twitter ,my twitter account is : http://twitter.com/collinsom92, if you are a blogger and are interested in following me please create a twitter account and click on my link and add me.The benefit of twitter is that you can receive and send tweets through your PDA or Mobile Phone(i-phones) etc.You can update your friends on the go so it is necessary for an enlightened online entrepreneur.So are you one ? its time you started tweeting .

What if you already are on twitter and are following me.I want to share tips on 2 delightful services:

1. Twitterfeed:This service will post your blog feeds to twitter automatically for you .You can customize the service on how often you want your posts updated.
   
2. Twittad: First and only website created to allow Advertisers place ads on Twitter.If you sign up you may just have an opportunity to earn money on ads placed on your twitter account!Perfect site for social website promotion,networking and product placement.Online Marketeers watch this website it will grow big in huge leaps and bounds!
   

Hence you can clearly see that Twitter offers a variety of opportunities and is a fast developing popurlar tool for professional bloggers.Join twitter and follow this blog for updates and tweets on how to maximize and optimize your use of twitter!

Safaricom Slumber -Sirens Blazing !

After the April 2008 IPO... nothing much in terms of competitiveness, new products ,services or image branding seems to be coming out of Safaricom whilst the competition is getting stiff! I bet i am not the only subscriber who is getting worried about this most profitable mobile telephone services company in Sub Saharan company and we have good reason to be worried.Consider the following :-

• November 2007 -France Telkom buys 51% percent Telkom Kenya Shares from the Government
• September 2008 Telkom South Africa and Telkom Kenya set up Orange Mobile Services(website link) and Orange Broadband .The new service targets to reach at least 50% of the population.The initial roll out intends to add 1 million subscribers per year calls between Orange mobile, Orange fixed wireless and Telkom Fixed will cost KES 7 per minute, while calls to the other mobile service providers will cost KES 14 per minute – significantly less than both the other mobile operators. SMS from Orange mobiles will cost KES 3.5 to any mobile phone service.Safaricom currently boasts over 8 Million subscribers but this is bound to change as it looses more subscribers to the new players in the industry mostly due to their high call cost charges!
  
• June 2008 Celtel changes to Zain and introduces tariff plans that see all prepaid subscribers paying KES 3 per minute on off peak hours(6 p.m to 6 a.m and on weekends) and the Marketing buzz around classic 105 Zain Man who dishes out money to members of the public should definately send the marketing and advertising department at Safricom bck to its drawing board.
• Zain and Telkom's Orange have undertaken massive bill board advertisements ,wall branding,road shows etc their presence is definately being felt in the market....Safaricom still slumbers...there's nothing new from them!
  
• September 2008 Econet wireless Kenya Limited begins its roll out program as the Third Licensed cellular phone services provider.Econet Wireless Kenya holds 70 per cent of the company, Starnet Limited owns 26 per cent, Corporate Africa two per cent and Crosslink two per cent.Earlier on in the year Econet Kenya Wireless Ltd, sold 49 per cent of its share to an India telecommunication company Essar.Econet Wireless boasts of following notable milestones :

• Has More than 11 million subscribers in five networks
• Group employs staff from over 20 nationalities
• Recorded Africa’s rollout of a network by launching a mobile network in Botswana in March 1998 six weeks from awarding of a GMS mobile license
• Entered Zimbabwean market two years after two incumbent competitors, assuming market leadership within three months and listing the company in the same period
• Achieved market leadership of 57% in Nigeria during first year of operation after launching Econet Wireless Nigeria in August 2001
• Econet was the first mobile cellular company in the world to introduce a mobile news service of the BBC World News and South African Broadcasting Corporation news
• First mobile operator in Africa to introduce CNN news on cellular phone handsets
• First operator to introduce a duo-numbered SIM card which was launched in Zimbabwe in 1998
• First operator from an emerging market to own a 3-G licence in an OECD country in New Zealand
• First African telecoms company to build an international satellite hub in the UK

Most of Safaricom subscribers then need to critically look at the future of the company ...worse is the fact that last week Safaricom shares traded at less than 5 Kenyan shillings (KES 4.60-4.90)far much less than their retailing price during the IPO.The share price for Safricom have been less than static in the trading floor of Nairobi Stock Exchange.One tends to think that the IPO was meant to offload shares(wink! wink-Mobitelea) and leave the network to die its natural death .If i was Michael Joseph i wouldn't renew my contract only to suffer shame in the event the Company collapses.The new companies are rapidly edging out Safaricom while there is no sign of hard fight by the network to retain or get new subscribers !Safaricom wake up from your slumber lest your massive network and infrastructure goes down to the dogs!