Kenya Hits 84.1M Mobile Lines as Safaricom Extends Lead

Kenya’s active mobile subscriptions rose to 84.1 million in the three months to March 2026, reflecting a 7.4 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The growth pushed the country’s mobile penetration rate to 157.7 percent, according to the latest sector statistics by the Communications Authority of Kenya for the third quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year.

Safaricom maintained its lead in the mobile subscriptions market after adding about 5.5 million new subscriptions during the quarter. Its subscriber base grew to 57.9 million from 52.4 million in the previous quarter.

The operator now holds a 68.9 percent market share and is nearing the 60 million subscriber mark in Kenya.

Airtel remained the second-largest operator with 23.2 million subscribers, representing a 27.6 percent share of the market.

Equitel, operated by Finserve, recorded a marginal rise in subscriptions to 1.51 million, giving it a 1.8 percent market share. Jamii Telecommunications, which operates Faiba, had 883,944 subscribers and a 1.1 percent share.

Telkom Kenya recorded the biggest decline during the quarter after losing 160,464 subscribers. Its subscriber base fell to 584,438, equivalent to a 0.7 percent market share.

The Communications Authority attributed the increase in subscriptions largely to customer win-back campaigns by mobile operators during the period.

The sector was also supported by lower device prices, the expansion of high-speed mobile network infrastructure and growing reliance on mobile services for economic and social activities.

The shift from feature phones to smartphones also continued, with smartphones accounting for 63.7 percent of all mobile devices connected to networks.

Kenya had 62.6 million mobile broadband internet subscriptions as of March 31, 2026.

Safaricom led the mobile broadband market with a 62.7 percent share, although this was down from 64.3 percent in the previous quarter.

In the fixed data market, Safaricom held a 35.4 percent market share. Jamii Telecommunications followed with 19.5 percent, while Wananchi Group accounted for 10.4 percent and Poa Internet Kenya held 9.7 percent.

Ahadi Wireless had a 9.2 percent market share, followed by Vilcom Network at 6 percent and Mawingu Networks at 3.7 percent. Starlink accounted for 0.9 percent of the fixed data market.

Safaricom also retained its dominance in mobile money, controlling 89.1 percent of the market as active mobile money subscriptions rose to 53.4 million.

In domestic voice traffic, Safaricom accounted for 64.96 percent while Airtel handled 34.88 percent. Telkom had 0.07 percent, Equitel 0.05 percent and Jamii 0.04 percent.

Safaricom also dominated SMS traffic with a 93.96 percent share. Airtel accounted for 6.01 percent, while Telkom and Equitel each held 0.01 percent. Jamii recorded no measurable share.