Struggling Indian-based multinational firm Essar which runs yuMobile is exiting the Kenyan market and is set to sell its infrastructure, employees and subscribers to its competitors Safaricom and Airtel.The three are working with Kenya’s telco regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya to sign the Ksh8.6 billion ($100 million) deal which will see Safaricom retain yuMobile’s infrastructure and some 130 employees while Airtel takes over the firm’s mobile number prefix and therefore acquires yuMobile’s 2.7 million subscribers. This will make Airtel’s subscriber base at 7.7 million from its current 5.5 million while Safaricom will use yuMobile’s infrastructure to up its network quality.
Even after the deal, Safaricom maintains its market dominance with 66.5 per cent of the total mobile subscribers in Kenya followed by 26.4 per cent while Orange remains at 7.1 per cent. The deall, however complicates Equity Bank’s said interest to roll out telco services in the country.