President William Ruto has finally broken silence on his stance over the Safaricom vs Starlink competition in the Kenyan market.
Speaking in New York during the Kenya Business and Investment Roundtable, the Head of State said that Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa was not happy about the entry of Starlink into the market.
However, Ruto said that he allowed Elon Musk’s product to encourage competition between the different players.
He also directly addressed Peter Ndegwa, who was with him in the room, encouraging him that he would still thrive and would now have to become more competitive.
“I have my CEO for Safaricom here, sometimes he is not happy with me for bringing in some other characters like Elon Musk and the like,
“But you see I keep encouraging Peter that competition helps you keep ahead. And he has really been trying because he has upped his game, so we want to keep that space competitive,” said Ruto
Also Read: Will Starlink Dethrone Safaricom? Experts Explain How to Choose the Best Wi-Fi
Starlink Partnership with Telecos in Kenya
The introduction of Starlink to Kenya has created stiff competition among internet providers in the market.
Government offices and officials in the country have also reported moving from Safaricom, which is the dominant telco and internet provider, to Starlink.
Earlier, Elon Musk confirmed that Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja’s office has started using the internet provider as well.
“Starlink is now providing Nairobi City Hall with reliable internet with speeds ranging between 120 Mbps and 200 Mbps,” a user on X said before Musk responded.
Earlier, tech billionaire Elon Musk had hinted at partnering with telecommunication companies worldwide as part of his expansion plans for Starlink.
Musk said Starlink’s direct-to-mobile phone service is exclusively partnering with T-Mobile in the United States for the first year, with plans to expand to other carriers afterward.
Globally, Musk stated that Starlink is starting with one carrier per country, with the goal of eventually serving all carriers.
Also Read: Safaricom Clarifies Cancelling M-PESA Payments for Starlink Customers
Safaricom Changes Since Starlink that Ruto Hinted
Safaricom has since made several changes to attract a broader customer base including updating its airtime purchase policy for customers using the M-Pesa mobile payment service to allow Ksh1 airtime purchase.
Also, Safaricom PLC made changes to its popular reverse call service, limiting it to two free calls only in a day.
The telecommunication company explained that the customers would be charged for the third reverse call that they would make per day.
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