TechPression

Tag: SMS

  • Kenya’s incoming international calls increase by 57%

    Kenya’s incoming international calls increase by 57%

    The number of international voice calls to Kenya increased by a staggering 57.47 percent year-over-year rise or an increase of 48,989,304 during a 12-month period. This was according to statistics from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

    There were 134,247,370 international incoming voice calls made via mobile in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024–2025, up from 85,258,066 in the first quarter of the previous year.

    Read also: Telkom Kenya, Rakuten Symphony, Airspan partner on Open RAN testing, knowledge transfer

    Declined outgoing calls 

    On the other hand, there was a minor decrease in the quantity of outgoing international calls from Kenya.

    In the first quarter of 2023/2024, there were 179,701,005 outgoing calls made via mobile phones; in the same quarter of 2024/2025, there were 175,261,235 calls. A traffic jam of 2.47 percent.

    The number of calls outgoing from Kenya is consistently higher than those coming from other countries.

    Regulatory data shows that international SMS traffic is dwarfed by voice calls, which continue to be the most common method of international communication between Kenya and the rest of the world.

    Read also: Safaricom’s M-PESA officially launches Ziidi Money Market Fund in Kenya

    Decreased international text messages

    However, a significant distinction is that Kenya receives a lot more international SMS messages than it sends.

    Notably, outgoing and incoming international text messages have decreased. International incoming SMS traffic decreased by about 9.97 percent during the time under reference. There was a 30.32 percent drop in outbound SMS traffic from 3,739,629 to 2,605,963.

    The majority of this traffic is going to and coming from the East African Community (EAC) nations. Of the inbound mobile voice traffic, 77.70 percent (104,315,553) came from EAC. The region was responsible for 66.29 percent of outgoing calls (116,182,986).

  • NCC caves to pressure from telcos, set to approve call, data tariff hike amid economic hardship

    NCC caves to pressure from telcos, set to approve call, data tariff hike amid economic hardship

    There are strong indications that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) intends to approve a long-pending proposal to hike telecom tariffs resulting in increased call, SMS, and internet bundle rates anticipated to go into effect January 2025.

    Telecom giants like MTN Nigeria, Airtel, and 9Mobile for over 10 years lobbied for upward price reviews to reflect the nation’s current economic reality which include rising operating costs, currency instability and soaring inflation.

    The NCC is preparing to make an official announcement of the tariff hike, according to Tech Cabal.

    Read also: Malawi adopts new protocols to enhance emergency telecommunications during disasters

    “This announcement will benefit the subscribers and operators because we have taken into account the proposals from the industry and the public,” TechCabal cited an NCC spokesperson as saying.

    Telecom tariffs to increase by 40%

    Existing proposals suggest that telecom rates may increase by as much as 40%. Should it be implemented, SMS fees will go from N4 to N5.60 and phone call rates will go from N11 to N15.40 per minute. A 1GB bundle for data plans will now cost at least N1,400 instead of just N1,000.

    In an interview on Arise TV on December 20, Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, acknowledged the necessity of price modifications, saying: “We think there may be a need for that.”

    The NCC is in charge of examining and approving changes to tariffs in the telecom sector. It denied Starlink’s request in October 2024 to raise subscription prices to N75,000.

    Although the commission seeks to balance customers’ financial burden, it acknowledges that operational issues facing the sector may have an impact on investment and service quality.

    Read also: Airtel, K2 Telecom renew partnership to connect, empower Ugandan communities

    Financial losses in the telecom sector due to rising inflation 

    Concerns that the telecom pricing hike may result in less internet usage in a nation that prioritises digital inclusion. This has been exacerbated by rising food inflation (39.93 percent). However, as a result of the existing state of affairs, the telcos have suffered large financial losses.

    MTN Nigeria, for example, recorded losses of N137 billion in 2023 and N514.9 billion in the first nine months of 2024. Additionally, Airtel Africa reported $89 million in losses in FY 2024, primarily due to difficulties in Nigeria.

    Even though the telecom industry had a bleak forecast for most of the year, Gbenga Adebayo, president of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), contends that cost-reflective pricing will encourage investment and eventually contribute to quality improvement.

  • NCC directs telcos to maintain tariff transparency

    NCC directs telcos to maintain tariff transparency

    Telecommunications companies have received an order from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to streamline their rate plans, bundling, and marketing initiatives.

    This action aims to give subscribers accurate, comprehensible, and unambiguous information about the cost of voice, short messaging service (SMS), and data services.

    Read also: NCC denies approving telecom tariff hike

    “Show features of your tariff plans and bundle offers”

    Entitled “Guidance on the Simplification of Tariffs in the Nigerian Communications Sector,” the order took effect on July 29, 2024. It requires mobile network operators (MNOs) to release an extensive table outlining the features of their bundle offers and tariff plans.

    The table should include all the information required for subscribers to make educated choices, such as information about add-ons, their costs, how customers can opt in or out, renewal terms and conditions, and rollover policies.

    The guideline results from in-depth data analysis on customer preferences and expectations, as well as discussions with industry stakeholders, including MNOs and Customer Focus Groups.

    Guidelines to protect customers’ interest

    The simplification guidelines aim to standardise tariff structures, foster fair competition among licensees, protect consumers’ interests by providing them with clear and understandable tariff information so they can make informed decisions, and guarantee transparency and fairness of promotional elements of tariff plans.

    Service providers must exhibit all pertinent details regarding their tariffs, including the plan name, cost, duration of validity, price per second for both on- and off-network and international calls, anticipated data speeds, and fair usage guidelines.

    Telcos directed to migrate subscribers to simplified tariff plans 

    The directive said, “Operators may continue to offer bonus-led tariff plans through December 31, 2024, after which operators must inform and transition all subscribers to the simplified tariff plans.”

    MNOs are also required by the recommendations to provide subscribers with pricing information in “clear language and a user-friendly format,” fully disclosing the subscriber’s tariff plan through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).

    Along with these requirements, “operators must eliminate access fees and asymmetric fee structures; bonuses on promotions must be stated in actual value; operators must offer stand-alone data bundles at fair prices to avoid tying consumers with products they do not need.”

    The NCC highlighted that operators must also adhere to these guidelines and meet the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) requirements outlined in the Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations.

    Read also: NIN-SIM linkage: MTN Nigeria bans 8.6 million users

    About NCC

    The Nigeria Communications Commission is the independent national regulatory body overseeing Nigeria’s telecommunications sector. The Commission guarantees the availability of effective, high-quality telecommunications services across the nation and fosters a competitive environment for industry operators.

    The Nigerian Communications Act 2003, which was approved by both Houses of the National Assembly and signed into law by President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) on July 8, 2003, created the mandate of the Nigerian Communications Commission. The Act allows the NCC to perform its regulatory duties and operations effectively.

    The NCC is required to provide licensees with written instructions, consult with businesses, industry groups, and consumers, assign duties to a committee that it has formed, call people to appear before the Commission, sign contracts with any business, organisation, or individual, and create and manage subsidiaries to enable it to carry out its duties.

  • MTN, Airtel, Glo, others record N53.6bn from SMS in Nigeria

    MTN, Airtel, Glo, others record N53.6bn from SMS in Nigeria

    The landscape of communication technology is constantly shifting, thus it is reasonable to think that traditional messaging services like Short Message Service (SMS) will become less popular as internet-based messaging platforms continue to proliferate.  However, this is not the case.

    According to a report that was just released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the largest telecoms companies in the country, such as MTN, GlobalCom, Airtel, 9Mobile, and Smile Communications, made a total of N53.6 billion in revenue from SMS in the year 2022. This figure includes both individual and group revenue.

    Read also: MTN, Vodafone, and Other Telecom Companies Now Offer Free Calls and SMS to Ukraine

    NCC’s latest report

    According to the most recent annual report published by the NCC, a staggering 14.08 billion text messages were transmitted over these networks during the course of the previous year. This statistic translates to an astounding N53.6 billion at the standard rate of N4.00 per message delivered, demonstrating the significant revenue stream that the operators continue to receive from delivering the service.

    The information also shows that in the period of just one year, there was a staggering increase of 48.8% in the amount of text messages that were traded between members. This remarkable increase resulted in a shift from 9.46 billion SMS in 2021 to an astounding 14.08 billion in 2022.

    As a direct result of this, the volume of text messages received saw an increase of 11.06%, bringing the total number of SMS messages sent and received during the year to a combined total of 25.9 billion.

    MTN, Airtel, Glo, others, to seek NCC approval before running ads

    Details on SMS usage

    When examined more closely, the data provided by the NCC gives surprising insights into the performance of particular operators within this sector. MTN established itself as the industry leader in short message service (SMS) with 8.3 billion outbound and 8.7 billion inbound messages, which made a substantial contribution to the company’s N33.3 billion SMS revenue.

    Globacom was able to capture the number two slot after a close race by sending 3.6 billion SMS messages and receiving 777.2 million of them. This resulted in a substantial increase in revenue of N14.5 billion. During this same time period, Airtel, which is the third largest operator in terms of subscriber count, reported 1.8 billion sent messages at a cost of N7.5 billion and 2 billion received messages.

    9Mobile kept its presence in the market by sending out 234.8 million SMS messages (worth N93.9 million) and receiving 235 million messages. During the period under examination, Smile Communications handled a relatively low volume of communications, processing 173,607 sent messages (N694,428) and receiving 766,588 messages in total.

    In addition, the operators were responsible for a combined total of 518.9 million foreign SMS in 2022, which is an indication of the sustained significance of SMS on the international arena. This included an astounding 459.3 million messages being received in addition to the 59.5 million that were sent.