Facebook is now a real threat to Safaricom’s dominance after the US giant company introduced the cheapest Internet in Kenya.
Dubbed Express Wifi’,the internet will cost less than half the price of data bundles offered by Safaricom.Facebook,in collaboration with Surf, a local Internet service provider, have made sure their services are appealing to Kenyans.The service was rolled out this week and is currently vailable in Thika, Ong’ata Rongai, Mlolongo, Limuru, Kitengela and Kiambu
Facebook’s Express Wifi is similar to the Google balloon powered Internet (Project Loon) intended to take the Internet rural, remote areas.
The Express Wifi has a 10-day offer where users access 100MBs free daily package after which they are required to top up through recharge agents recruited in areas where it is available.
Daily Internet bundles cost Sh10 for 40 megabyte (mb) and Sh20 for 100mb while weekly Express Wifi bundles cost Sh50 for 300mbs and Sh100 for 500mb.
Monthly bundles cost Sh200 for 1.25 gigabyte (gb) and Sh500 for 3gb. Surf Kenya CEO Mark Summer said in an interview the prices could change after official launch of the service.
Currently, these are Safaricom and Airtel Data Bundle charges:
Safaricom Data Bundle charges
Weekly Data Bundles
| Weekly Bundles | Data (MBs) | Price (Kshs) | Validity Period |
| 5MB | 5MB | 5 | 7 Days |
| 10 MB | 10MB | 10 | 7 Days |
| 30 MB | 30 MB | 30 | 7 Days |
| 65 MB | 65 MB | 50 | 7 Days |
| 130 MB | 130 MB | 100 | 7 Days |
Monthly Data Bundles
| Monthly Bundles | Data (MBs) | Price (Kshs) | Validity Period |
| 350 MB | 350 MB | 250 | 30 Days |
| 1 GB | 1 GB | 500 | 30 Days |
| 3 GB | 3 GB | 1000 | 30 Days |
| 7.5 GB | 7.5 GB | 2000 | 30 Days |
| 12 GB | 12 GB | 3000 | 30 Days |
90 Day Data Bundles
| 90 Day Bundles | Data (MBs) | Price (Kshs) | Validity Period |
| 6 GB | 6 GB | 3000 | 90 Days |
| 16 GB | 16 GB | 6000 | 90 Days |
| 30 GB | 30 GB | 9000 | 90 Days |
Airtel Data Bundle charges
Currently, one average each Kenyan consumes Ksh15 worth of data bundles per day.If Facebook succeeds in eating into Safarcom’s customer base, it will be a disaster for the dominant company,Safaricom.
