Safaricom rolls out new mobile phone prefixes
Safaricom PLC has deepened market penetration after announcing the introduction of the new 0110 and 0111 prefixes as it races to grow its subscriber base in the increasingly competitive telecoms sector.
The new prefixes were allocated by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) in 2019 after the exhaustion of the 07XX prefixes.
With the unveiling of the new prefixes, the service provider, which has more than 34.5 million customers, can now add up to two million additional clients to its network.
The new-prefix sim cards will be available free of charge with customers only required to activate their lines with a top up of Sh50 airtime.
Safaricom has also rolled out a new numbering system that provides its customers with the freedom to choose their own number rather than pre-assigned mobile phone numbers.
Flexibility
“The new 0110 and 0111 prefixes alongside our new numbering system are part of our “for you” commitment to be simple, transparent and honest. We continue to invest in additional enhancements and services to better meet the needs of our customers as they evolve and to also provide them with even more freedom and flexibility,” said Safaricom chief customer officer Sylvia Mulinge,.
Airtel Kenya also rolled out new mobile numbers bearing the new 01 prefix, as it races to grow its subscriber base in the increasingly competitive telecoms sector.
The firm, which was offered three million of the new numbers, was the first telco to roll out new prefix number series of 0100, 0101 and 0102 to customers.
The move by CA was necessitated by exhaustion of existing prefixes including 0722, 0723, 0733 and 0734.
