Safaricom partners with The Star and People Daily for Sh 10 digital newspapers
Safaricom has partnered with Radio Africa Group and Mediamax Network Ltd to enable customers to purchase The Star and People Daily e-Papers for Shs 10 per issue.
This follows the unveiling of a digital portal that allows customers
to use their airtime to purchase and access newspapers on the go.
“Kenyans like to be in the know, and we are using technology to
provide them access to news at their fingertips through the digital
newspapers. We are continuously working with partners to enrich the portal with more publications so that we have something for everyone,” said Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO. 
Radio Africa boss praised the partnership that he saw as an opportunity to grow.
“Radio Africa Group is excited to have Safaricom as our first local digital distribution partner. For our Safaricom launch, we are giving a 50% special offer,” said Patrick Quarcoo, CEO, Radio Africa Group.
Mediamax Network Ltd acting CEO Ken Ngaruiya said: “We are proud to be the pioneers in the provision of a free daily newspaper in Kenya. Even though our free distribution is reaching over 3.5 million Kenyans daily, we are excited to be a part of this platform that will significantly increase the reach of our newspaper. Indeed, more Kenyans will get more informed and entertained at the comfort of their mobile phones,” said Ngaruiya.
The partnership with Radio Africa Group (The Star) and Mediamax
Networks (People Daily) brings the number of media partners to four.
The other two include Nation Media Group (Daily Nation, Business Daily, Saturday & Sunday Nation) and The Standard Group (The Standard, Saturday & Sunday Standard and The Nairobian).
Purchased publications will appear under “My Newspaper” tab for 7 days after purchase, and customers will need to have their data on when accessing the portal as each purchase is linked to their mobile phone number.
However, the Sh 10 price per newspaper inclusive of data
usage, meaning a customer’s data bundle will not be consumed when
reading through each paper.
The initiative is part of Safaricom’s goal of enabling more businesses
harness the power of the internet to meet the needs of their
customers.
