The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has issued a warning to Telkom Kenya and Airtel Kenya, citing poor service quality. According to the CA’s 2022-2023 Quality-of-Service Performance report, the two mobile network operators failed to attain their coverage objectives.
The report highlighted that Airtel Networks Kenya Limited and Telkom Kenya did not only fail to achieve their coverage targets but also fell short on key performance indicators for service quality particularly on the ‘unsuccessful call ratio’ and Data Internet KPIs, which are measures of coverage and internet accessibility.
The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) report revealed that among mobile network providers, Safaricom passed the 80% mark, achieving 90% of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) threshold. However, Airtel and Telkom only attained 79% and 65% respectively.
Due to their underperformance, the CA has levied penalties against Airtel and Telkom and warned them with a non-compliance fee that mandates improved service delivery. Failing to adhere to this directive will lead to sanctions, the CA stated.
The report noted a significant drop in the mobile network industry’s overall performance, from 82.3% in 2021-2022 to 72.4% in 2022-2023.
The subscriber base for each provider was detailed, with Safaricom having 43,727,515, Airtel 17,636,324, and Telkom 2,774,254.
When it came to county performance, Safaricom led with 87.60%, followed by Airtel at 75.07% and Telkom at 54.75%. However, the lowest scores were recorded in Vihiga and Kajiado for Safaricom (63.5%), Baringo and Laikipia for Airtel (45.45%), and Muranga and Laikipia for Telkom (36.36%).
Despite their overall shortcomings, both Airtel and Telkom showed strong results in urban areas. Airtel had a high score of 90.91% in Machakos, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kericho, Siaya, and Muranga, while Telkom scored 72.73% in Vihiga, Mombasa, Nairobi, and Nakuru.
Safaricom was noted for its superior coverage performance in the report, particularly in several counties. The highest performing areas included Nairobi, Mombasa, Lamu, Nyandarua, Kwale, Busia, and Kiambu.
