Airtel lodged an official complaint with Kenya’s competition regulator – the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) – over Safaricom’s super cheap 10 cents a minute voice calls , highlighting the unrelenting rivalry between Kenya’s top two mobile operators.
Allegations of Predatory Pricing – A Very Dubious Practice
The CAK recently revealed Airtel had basically accused Safaricom of breaking the rules with their promotional voice charges – a ploy that slipped under the MTR threshold (that’s the rate phone companies charge each other for calls between their networks).
Airtel basically said Safaricom was pricing as low as 10-30 cents a minute, well below the MTR of 41 cents – and this was predatory pricing – a sneaky trick firms use to put their competitors out of business by selling below cost. The idea is to go all out for market share and then raise prices afterwards to make up for the losses.
And the Regulator Just Told Airtel to Bugger Off
The CAK rejected Airtel’s complaint, deciding Safaricom had done nothing wrong by running the promo within the 90 day limit. For Airtel, this was a major setback – they had been begging the regulator to put the screws on Safaricom, which is the dominant operator in Kenya.
“It was established that the promotion was restricted to a maximum of 90 days as provided under the Kenya Information and Communication Act and Regulations and could be repeated for at least three months to safeguard any negative impact on competition,” the CAK stated. “The matter was therefore closed.”
Peeking Behind the Scenes of the Dispute
Safaricom’s promotional offers referenced by Airtel were basically their Tunukiwa offers – 100 minutes of talk time for 10 bucks, 30 minutes for 10 bucks, 60 minutes for 20 bucks – all within a certain time frame. Safaricom even offered unlimited calls within a one hour window for 20 bucks. Apparently, one of these promotions was called ‘Ofa Moto’, which Airtel claimed broke the rules.
“Airtel just said Safaricom had been running a promo in which they were selling voice calls at below the current MTR of 41 cents per minute, ” the CAK announced – specifically the ‘Ofa Moto’ offer.
A Framework to Strangle Any Promos
The regulatory framework dictates that telco operators set tariffs that are just and reasonable. And then there are the rules about promotions – the Communications Authority doesn’t want anyone to run them too often, so you can’t run a promo for less than 90 days and then do the same thing again right after it ends. In this case, the CAK ruled Safaricom’s promo had stayed within those limits.
The Battle For Market Share Continues
Safaricom has been watching its market share dwindle. Recently, the numbers showed it was losing ground in mobile money and internet services. As of December, Safaricom had 66.8% of market share – down from 72.6% in 2017.
Although the overall market share picture isn’t too good for Safaricom, the company has a pretty solid hold on voice calls, with a share of 62.2% in September 2025 up from 61.1% a few months earlier. Airtel’s share, on the other hand, went down to 37.5% from 38.5% in the same period.
The Lay of the Land
This is the latest episode in the long history of regulatory spats between Kenya’s mobile giants. Back in 2021, Safaricom defended itself against allegations of abusing its market position before the Senate. They said competition was still pretty strong and other operators could still grow by innovating and spending more.
The Communications Authority has never officially called Safaricom a dominant player, with both the CA and CAK consistently saying there’s no evidence of it using its size to stomp on its rivals – despite having a 67% market share.