Though competition is good, this one is getting ugly. The regulator should not just sit and watch as the industry is brought down to its knees.

Airtel is simply "Buying Customers". They have said they are not driven by profit making at the moment, so does it mean they are philanthropic?. These guys should be made to make their books of accounts public.

From customers point of view, the ride is OK. But from macro economic perspective; its simply a disaster. Airtel can afford to charge even 0.50 cents; but what does it do telecoms industry?. Their parent company in india is bearing the cost over and above the revenue they are getting from customers per call. This is akin of Subsidy if u may call it that way. As such the playing ground is not level anymore since the govt is not "subsidizing" the company's where it has stakes i.e Orange and Safcom.

For arguments sake, everybody's opinion is valid.

These predatory strategy by Airtel akin to Eastleigh Take-over by Somali's (With Piracy Money) or English Premier League Clubs take-over by billionaires. But at least in EPL, EUEFA has put in place some regulations, but in Kenya I doubt anything shall be done.

So wait... This means my ownership in SafariCON is less than 2,500/-???

40bn shares * KES 4.30 x 35% GoK ownership /40,000,000 population = 1,505/-

LOL... I am glad I vuka'd!!!

BTW, 'other' Kenyans do NOT own 25% of SafariCON but a much smaller percentage. Plus for many, many years Vodafone & Mobitelea ['Kenyans'?] scammed me & my other 39mn compatriots!

Bottomline: My pocket is more important that some vague notion. If @mgeman is so 'patriotic' then use Orange [49% GoK owned] instead of SafariCON [Only 35%].

.....some people here like collimore himself reason like kids in babyclass, kwani only safcom pays taxes? All the moneys saved from these phone calls are definitely spent somewhere else (supermarket, beer, etc and where we still pay at least VAT) and ofcourse those supermarkets, KBLs, shops, etc will also pay tax to the GOK...... useless!

1) 'May' hurt Kenyans.
2) Business journalism in Kenya is pathetic anyway! The chap at Nation is worried about losing ad revenue from those silly/stupid/confusing offers & promos like 'Saa Ya Saasa'
3) That's his opinion. Few facts in the story/article.

What if people decide to save? Remember when mobile phones first appeared in Uganda, Ugandans cleared their accounts to buy airtime.