Collymore reveals how Safaricom gobbles up bundles

Safaricom Chief Executive Bob Collymore has explained the seemingly short shelf life of the network’s mobile data, one of the major complaints by customers.

In an exclusive interview with CapitalFM, Collymore says Safaricom’s fast internet speeds means data is consumed faster.

“If you are downloading a document, or a movie or even (on) social media, it will be downloaded in HD. So if you compare to other networks, the data bundle will get used faster because it is more of a fire hydrant compared to a tap,” Collymore says.

Collymore reckons Safaricom’s data is not expensive compared to similar speeds in more developed markets such as the US or Europe but agrees that data charges when roaming is ridiculous.

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“I know I might get into trouble for saying this, but there can be no excuse for the kind of charges mobile phone companies around the world charge for data roaming. It’s shocking,” Collymore says.

Collymore has also pointed out that out-of-bundle browsing contributes to a higher data cost, saying the company’s MyDataManager app is meant to help customers to manage data usage.

“We have been encouraging customers to get back into bundle…but customers have told us ‘stop sending us these messages’ so we are trying to hit that balance,” Collymore adds.

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He has also said Safaricom has started recording fixed data as a separate revenue stream having reached 83,000 homes, while at the same time ruling out a possibility of a Safaricom unlimited data package.

“It’s not economical. We can’t afford to do that. People who are doing that (unlimited data) have gone out of business and those who continue to do it will go out of business.”