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Safaricom is set to close its shops on Thursday for four hours to honor the fallen CEO Bob Collymore

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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Safaricom is set to close its shops on Thursday for four hours to honor the fallen CEO Bob Collymore

Safaricom’s retail outlet shops across the country will be closed this coming Thursday 4th July 2019 to owner the company’s fallen Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore. Customers will not be able to access the shops for four hours starting from 10:30am to 2:30pm; at the same time, his memorial service will be carried out at the All Saints Cathedral Nairobi.

Bob succumbed to cancer on Monday 1st July having served the telco giant since Michael Joseph who is now the temporary CEO till the company’s board finds a suitable permanent replacement. Amongst top contenders is Kenya’s Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer at Safaricom since November 2018, who made news recently when Tanzania refused to award her a work permit to take up CEO position at the counties Vodacom.

In a statement from Safaricom, closing the retail outlets will symbolize a mark of respect for the Cherished leader as it gives Kenyans an opportunity to reflect on his life. Bob Collymore’s body was cremated early Tuesday at Kariokor in Nairobi, in a private ceremony attended by his close family members, invited friends and a few staff members from Safaricom.

There was heavy security at the crematorium after a huge crowd of onlookers turned up, despite an announcement by the company’s board Chairman Nicholas Nganga that it was a private event.

Bo succumbed to Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a cancer at his Nairobi home on Monday, aged 61, after a long battle and had been seeking treatment since 2017, here in Kenya and in the United Kingdom.

Safaricom has unveiled VOLTE – voice and video calls over 4G countrywide for its Customers

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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Safaricom has unveiled VOLTE – voice and video calls over 4G countrywide for its Customers

Kenyan telco giant – Safaricom has activated VOLTE voice and video calls for subscribers on its network enabling them make clearer high definition calls over its network. VOLTE is a feature that requires telco operators support a higher data capacity as compared to overtaken 3G and 2G networks. Unlike previous technologies, 4G has the ability to carry up to three times more data per call thereby providing a clearer and richer experience. In essence, VOLTE eliminates noise such as background noise as well as other forms of interference that are particularly common with older technologies.

The service is already available countrywide to any Kenyan with a 4G capable device that has VOLTE functionality on top of a 4G equipped Sim card from the telco and comes at no additional charge. Subscribers with capable devices are set to experience high definition voice quality rated at three times better than 3G and six times better than 2G.   

Those who have select capable devices will be able to access 4G internet while utilizing VoLTE functionality to make calls simultaneously without having to switch in between the two. In comparison with older technologies such as 3G which carries both data and voice traffic on the same channel thus resulting in slower speed, subscribers using 4G technology will be able to have both functionalities at the same time without compromising on browsing speed.

How to know if Safaricom’s VoLTE feature is available on your device

  • If you have a device that meets basic requirements; 4G hardware, 4G sim card and VoLTE capable, then you can tell you’re on VoLTE by the “HD Calling” symbol which appears when a VoLTE call is in progress.
  • VoLTE symbol will also be displayed on your status bar

VoLTE also allows subscribers switch between voice and video calls during a VoLTE call, though video calls can only be possible if both the caller’s and receiver’s handsets support the technology.

Speaking on the development, Safaricom’s, Chief Customer Officer, Sylvia Mulinge said the telco was proud to lead in unveiling latest calling technology to its subscribers across the country. She also acknowledged how VoLTE will empower subscribers to better connect with families, friends and at work with high-quality video calling at no extra cost.

By unveiling VoLTE functionality to its customers, Safaricom is hopping to meet the ever rising demand for video calling functionality driven by data and smartphone usage. And as expected, businesses as expected to take the opportunity in making crucial conference or group calls over mobile devices. These opportunities range from just company communications to video marketing and trading specially on mobile devices. The telco is said to have committed its resources on 4G network expansion across the country and expects to double its base stations by the end of the year. Complementing the launch of VoLTE, Safaricom unveiled a range of supported mobile phones ranging from the Neon Ray retailing at KES 3,999 and the Neon Nova at KES 5,999. Other VoLTE supported devices select Samsung, Nokia, Tecno, Itel and Huawei devices. Customers using these devices may need to update their device software to

How to make a Reverse Call from Telkom to Telkom and let the recipient pay for the call

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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How to make a Reverse Call from Telkom to Telkom and let the recipient pay for the call

Just days after Safaricom unveiled the feature, Telkom Kenya has now officially entered the fray with its own reverse call service that lets subscribers within its network request the receiver to incur call charges. Telkom to Telkom reverse call functionality works in a similar manner as to Safaricom but users have to start by dialing “128” instead of “#”. While some might argue that Safaricom were first innovators of the feature, it’s understood that Telkom had the service on its fixed landline booths long time ago only that it worked differently.

Telkom Kenya’s reverse call feature basically transfers the cost incurred on the call to the receiver and is achieved by having the caller add “128” at the beginning of receiver’s phone number. For instance, if you are calling 0770000000 and want to transfer call charges to that number, you’ll need to dial 1280770000000 instead.

How is the Telkom reverse call feature important to customers?

A simple question to answer if you’ve been in a difficult position to make a call for lack of enough credit. While we don’t expect businesses to utilize this feature, it’ll come in handy for subscribers within the same network, either family members or friends.

A customer receiving a reverse call request will see the caller’s details appear on the screen as normal, but once they pick the call, they’ll need to accept the reverse call. The cost of the call will be equivalent to the receiver’s normal call cost.

The service is only available for Telkom Kenya to Telkom Kenya calls and will not be applicable for off-net, roaming and international calls.

How to make a reverse call on Telkom Kenya’s network;

  • First the recipient must have enough airtime for the reverse call
  • Dial recipients number starting with” 128” followed by contact number i.e 1280770000000
  • Receiver must accept the reverse call when prompted to complete the call
  • Otherwise the receiver can reject the at which point the reverse functionality will be denied
  • Call is charged at normal rates just as it would under a normal phone call

How to use Safaricom’s Reverse Call Feature to let the recipient pay for the call charges

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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How to use Safaricom’s Reverse Call Feature to let the recipient pay for the call charges

Remember them days when we used to reverse call almost anytime we were using the call booths? Well Safaricom just unveiled a similar feature only it works for calls made from Safaricom to Safaricom network alone. The feature will be available to the entire customer base that Safaricom owns which spans beyond 31 million customers.

Safaricom’s reverse call feature basically transfers the cost incurred on the call to the receiver and is achieved by having the caller add “#” at the beginning of receiver’s phone number. For instance, if you are calling 0722000000 and want to transfer call charges to that number, you’ll need to dial #0722000000 instead.

Speaking on the development, the tech giant’s chief customer officer Sylvia Mulinge said the telco was committed to introduce products that are relevant to their needs. She also added that the initiative had been tailored to mirror the relationship between the telco with a goal of empowering them to always remain connected with their loved ones.

A customer receiving a reverse call request will see the caller’s details appear on the screen as normal, but once they pick the call, they will receive a voice prompt asking them to key in “1” to accept the reverse call. The cost of the call will be equivalent to the receiver’s normal call cost.

The service is only available for on-net calls and will not be applicable for off-net, roaming and international calls.

The Reverse Call feature complements Safaricom’s existing “Please Call Me” service which enables a customer to send five free messages to other customers requesting for a call back.

How to make a reverse call on Safaricom’s network;

  • First the recipient must have enough airtime for the reverse call
  • Dial recipients number starting with” #” followed by contact number i.e #0722000000
  • Receiver must accept by entering number “1” when prompted
  • Otherwise the receiver can answer by entering number “2” to reject the service
  • Call is charged at normal rates just as it would under a normal phone call

Opera has unveiled its 2019 State of Mobile Web Report for Africa

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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Opera has unveiled its 2019 State of Mobile Web Report for Africa

Opera unveiled its 2019 State of Mobile Web Report for Africa with 40 percent Kenyans said to have used opera mini browser to access online content and social media sites such as Facebook according to the survey. The report which provides an in-depth view on how the African region consumed digital content on the web with statistics indicating that eight out of ten people accessed Facebook with opera mini on a daily basis accounting for 73 million browsing results to social media platforms in the first quota of 2019.

Data from the report indicate that websites which were often accessed include the likes of Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, followed by search engine websites like Google, and entertainment and sport websites with social media platform taking the lions’ share.

 Unlike Kenyans who seemed to access social media more, our Tanzanian counterparts were more interested on what YouTube had to offer from their mobile browsers accounting for 23 percent of the Opera Mini user base in the country. In comparison, only 17 percent of Opera Mini user base in Kenya were interested in watching YouTube.

Opera mini is popularly known to minimize data usage while accessing web content – a feature that has driven many online users in Africa to utilize the browser considering high costs of data bundles. While data costs on many carriers in Kenya for example has been subsidized to consumers who opt into other products from service providers such as Telkom Kenya’s free WhatsApp offer, costs still play a major role on how people across the continent access web content.  

Figures indicate that data consumers across Africa who used opera browser to access web content saved an impressive 77 petabytes (77 million gigabytes) of mobile data in 2018 due to the data saving features in Opera’s products.

 While speaking on the report, Opera’s Head of Marketing and Distribution, Jørgen Arnesen said they were happy to see the African region including Kenya start gaining traction. He also added that it was a significant milestone to their commitment in growing and developing the African digital transformation.

 “Additionally, our mobile browser saves on costs as one gigabyte of data last up to nine times more making it affordable and convenient to Kenyans and African countries as whole,” concluded Mr. Arnesen.

The report claims that close to 120 million internet users in Africa utilized the opera browser and a standalone news app within the first quota of 2019 with more than 350 million people using the same services globally. Moreover, the State of Mobile Web 2019 shows that Opera experienced a user growth of more than twenty five percent over a one-year period.

 Opera’s offering in the African region has expanded from the mobile browser and news app to major investments especially in Kenya’s FinTech and digital advertising industry. The State of Mobile Web 2019 also revealed that on average, Africans using Opera spend more than 30 minutes browsing on a daily basis.

How to make payments to Nairobi County using their new revenue collection system

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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How to make payments to Nairobi County using their new revenue collection system

While things weren’t looking up as expected, Nairobi County’s new revenue collection platform was mired with hitches but the sort of which you’d expect with having a new system in place. We’ve therefore devised a simple guide that people living in Nairobi can use to make payments to the county government and continue enjoying services as before. The new Nairobi County revenue collection system utilizes a USSD technology for users who’d like to pay using mobile money platforms such as Mpesa.

The new systems which is expected to carter for motorists, traders and businesses within the county is now managed internally after JamboPay’s contract expired earlier in the year. We recently highlighted how the county was looking for a new provider after reports emerged that revenue was being lost through the previous platform and the infamous row on how it was later acquired by NHIF. Webtribe Limited which managed Jambopay – a platform that has been managing revenue collection for the county government since 2014, had its term extended for a more 30 days period to allow the county put in place a new system to allow for a smooth and satisfactory transition.

Nairobi County Finance Executive Charles Kerich had indicated that the county was ready to collect revenue on its own and while acting on behalf of County Secretary Pauline Kahiga acknowledged that county government was committed to achieving its revenue collection targets a move that led to the exit of JamboPay.

After the new system became operational, there were reports on how the County government was losing millions of shillings owing to all sorts of problems. For a start, the new system was hurriedly unveiled on a Sunday and expected to work come Monday something that really needed to be properly planned earlier before it become fully operational.  

How to pay for Nairobi County Services using your mobile phone

  • On your mobile phone, enter the following USSD Code: *235#
  • You’ll be presented with “Welcome to Nairobi County e-Payments “Choose between; Parking, Land Rates, Rent and Other
  • Other options include; Adverts, E-construction and Other Bill Payments
  • Parking include; Daily parking, Seasonal Parking, Off-street parking and Penalties
  • After selecting Pay, enter necessary details i.e. business ID for permit and vehicle registration details for parking.
  • Proceed to enter the relevant amount, followed by Mpesa PIN when prompted to complete the payment.
  • You should receive a confirmation text for the payment.

Xiaomi Mi Band 4 with color display, voice assistant and NFC is now official

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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Xiaomi Mi Band 4 with color display, voice assistant and NFC is now official

Xiaomi is touted as the worlds second largest manufacturer of wearable smart bands largely because of it’s appetite in the budget segment of the market which has been neglected far too long. While it launched it’s first ever wearable almost half a decade ago, the current outing has more features and the price tag has been fairly kept at minimum. The Xiaomi Mi Band 4 unlike its immediate predecessor introduces NFC capability, a color display and voice assistant while keeping prices not far away.

It’ll be interesting to see how the latest smart band performs on the market that’s largely flooded by Chinese counterfeits considering users will now get a high-end 0.95-inch AMOLED color screen that has a resolution capped at 120×240 pixels with a price tag that’s reasonably low. On top of the additional new features’ consumers will get on the Xiaomi Mi Band 4, it has a 2.5D scratch-resistant glass and features 77 colorful dial themes for added personalization and eight distinct bands.

Having owned a Chinese counterfeit version of smart band that had all the good features mentioned at the time of purchase such as blood pressure and heartbeat measuring, now more than ever I’d love to own one of the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 considering it’ll cost me less than Kenyan shillings 5,000. And the juice doesn’t end with the above-mentioned new goodies on the band, the fourth iteration now comes with a new six-axis high precision accelerometer for better sport tracking that is equipped with a swimming stroke recognition capability. What that basically means is; the band has latest technology that is now capable to tell more precisely about your activities under water.

And if you are trying hard to imagine how the band would survive under water, you’d be impressed to learn that the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 can survive deep up to 50 meters thanks to the waterproof design and the band will even be able to determine your swimming skills based on your performance.

The Mi Band 4 is available in six color options with a limited edition of Avengers Series that boasts custom bands and watch faces. While the standard model is expected to cost anywhere around Kenyan shillings 2,500; Kenyan’s will have to embrace online outlets such as amazon and eBay to purchase one at least until it’s locally available if that will ever happen. The NFC enabled model will fetch close to Ksh. 3,500 and the limited edition raking in Ksh.5,000 apiece.

The manufacturer has capped battery life at 20-days before you’ll need to charge again, something the Chinese counterfeit market has struggled to achieve.

Free Data bundles at night, free WhatsApp and free Telkom to Telkom Calls on New daily data Offering

Tuvuti Editorial Team
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Free Data bundles at night, free WhatsApp and free Telkom to Telkom Calls on New daily data Offering

Telkom subscribers who sign-up for the operator’s new daily data offerings will now be treated to extra data bundles at night, chats on WhatsApp at no extra cost and make Telkom to Telkom call without additional charges. The data bundles which are billed and expire within 24 hours from the time of subscription are packaged as Daily 500MB and Daily 2GB, both of which are available on the 4G network. Subscribers will enjoy these freebies as long as they have a 4G enabled line as well a 4G device.

Here is what you’ll get when you subscribe to either of Telkom Kenya’s daily data bundles;

Subscribers who opt for the 500MB daily data billed at KES. 49 will receive additional 500MB data to be used between 12am and 6am, free minutes for Telkom to Telkom calls as well as 50MB free data to be used on WhatsApp chats. On the other hand, for those who subscribe to the 2GB option costing KES. 99 will get an extra 2GB night data, 60 free minutes and 50MB free WhatsApp.

Speaking on the development, Telkom Kenya’s CEO, Mugo Kibati, noted that the new bundles had been innovatively designed to meet unique needs Telkom’s subscribers, in line with the telco’s goal of building a holistic network that delivers value, fast speeds, capacity, quality and reliability.

He also added that the reason behind their innovative offering evolved behind its 4G network with an aim to let subscribers enjoy fastest speeds on their network across the country. Telkom Kenya has recently embarked on an aggressive adventure to upgrade it’s 4G network coverage countrywide and offer fast download and upload speeds to its subscribers.

How to Qualify for Telkom Kenya’s free night bundles when you subscribe to daily data offerings;

  • Must have a 4GB enabled Sim Card and a 4G enabled device
  • Dial *544# to subscribe
  • Data bundles will be automatically renewed but subscribers have an option to cancel

The launch of new daily data bundles comes after the mobile service provider unveiled the Telkom All-Network-Bundles, on which subscribers can make calls for as low as Sh1.50 cents per minute. The bundles, cost between Sh19 for a daily bundle and Sh499 for a 30-day bundle.

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