Telkom Kenya has pledged to focus more on data as the main source of sales growth after the termination of the merger deal with Airtel Kenya.
The telco said this on Wednesday adding on that it will turn to the internet to enable future growth. This is at was resolved at a time when data is seen as one of the fastest-growing revenue lines for operators in the country.
The firm also revealed plans to review its mobile money transfer service T-Kash with hopes of attracting more customers to use its network. Of course, this is with the aim of making some more noise in a market dominated by Safaricom’s M-PESA and rival Airtel Kenya.
As of March 2020, Telkom accounted for 5.8% of Kenyan mobile subscribers after Airtel (26.6%) that took second place. Meanwhile, Safaricom now controls about two-thirds of the voice market in terms of subscribers.
“We will make use of our extensive fibre network, to drive digital transformation by enabling public and private sector players to become smart entities, by way of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud, Big Data and Analytics,” Telkom chief executive Mugo Kibati announced on Wednesday.
This announcement shortly after Telkom Kenya had partnered with Google’s parent company Alphabet to offer the world’s first commercial high-speed internet balloons . It was done with the aim of providing accessible and fast access to the internet in remote regions of Kenya.
During the announcement, the firm also highlighted challenges that stood in the way of securing regulatory approvals for the Airtel deal. The merger was anticipated as it was meant to challenge Safaricom’s dominance in the country.