In a strongly worded statement today, airtel stated that Safaricom was trying to divert the situation on MNP to focus on non-issues with Porting Access, who have implemented the system effectively.Airtel stated that Safaricom tariffs were exorbitantly high until Airtel came to the rescue of customers by offering them affordable tariffs as part of the launch of its brand into the Kenyan market. It stated that the Safaricom way of doing business goes against what the government is trying to achieve in reversing inflation on the face of the rising cost of living and high commodity prices. The statement went on to elaborate that the only commodity that has not increased is mobile communication, with leadership by airtel. Furthermore, Safaricom have recently been lobbying to maintain current interconnect fees which were planned to be reduced by the regulator, with a view to providing Kenyans with even more affordable mobile communication.Rene Meza, the Managing Director said “The facts are clear that both the reduction of MNP and further lowering of interconnect has led Safaricom into a position where it needs to protect its leadership position at all costs, as it is under threat of losing thousands of customers.”

He added “In regards to MNP, Safaricom is a Vodafone company with history and experience in the implementation of MNP in several markets around the world that they can borrow from in order to ensure a seamless process in its implementation in Kenya to the benefit of customers in Kenya. The Kenyan project has been on the cards for the last two and a half years and they have not yet managed to sort themselves out.”
The ongoing issue is that ported customers cannot receive calls from Safaricom and they are on record admitting there is an issue. Rene added that they are trying to divert attention by apportioning blame to Porting Access and other networks, whilst the problem clearly lies in their own domain.
Mr Meza also added that Porting Access is the best in the world at this process but require operator co-operation to be able to do the job effectively.