Safaricom Silently Restores ‘No Expiry’ After Expose and Public Backlash

Safaricom has quietly restored data allocations on its popular ‘No Expiry’ bundles following widespread customer outrage and media scrutiny over cuts that effectively doubled internet costs for millions of Kenyans.

The telecommunications giant, which controls 63.3 percent of Kenya’s mobile market, reinstated the bundle rates on Monday after slashing data allocations by more than half starting October 22.

The company blamed the controversial cuts on a technical glitch, a claim that has been met with skepticism given the prolonged nature of the changes.

“It was a technical issue, and customers who got less data have been refunded the remaining amount,” a Safaricom spokesperson told the media on Monday. “The data offered now is more, especially for amounts from Sh11.”

The changes had hit the ‘No Expiry’ packages particularly hard.

Customers who paid Sh51 for 255 megabytes of data found themselves receiving only 102 megabytes, while Sh100 purchases dropped from 400 megabytes to just 200 megabytes.

The Sh250 package, which previously offered one gigabyte, was slashed to 500 megabytes.

As of Monday, restored rates showed significant improvements.

The Sh250 package now offers 1.25 gigabytes, while Sh51 purchases have returned to their original 255 megabytes.

The timing of the restoration, coming days after media reports exposed the cuts, has raised questions about whether the changes were indeed technical errors or a pricing strategy that backfired.

Safaricom initially remained silent when customers began complaining on social media, only acknowledging “an issue affecting the awarding of data bundles” on October 23 after mounting pressure.

The controversy erupted as subscribers discovered they were getting half the data they expected when topping up their accounts.

Angry customers took to social media platform X to express frustration, with many threatening to switch to rival networks.

Competition from Airtel Kenya, which has been offering more competitive data rates, appears to have intensified the backlash.

Airtel currently offers one gigabyte valid for one hour at Sh15, while Safaricom’s comparable 1.2 gigabyte bundle with the same validity costs Sh20.

For 24-hour bundles, Safaricom’s Sh20 gets customers 200 megabytes compared to Airtel’s 300 megabytes at the same price point.

SMS notifications sent to affected customers on Sunday and Monday read: “Dear customer, the issue with your non-expiry bundles is fixed and extra bundles added. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

The company said it is refunding remaining data to customers who purchased bundles at the reduced rates.

The incident has highlighted concerns about Safaricom’s market dominance and accountability to consumers.

With 49.9 million subscriptions and control of 62.8 percent of mobile broadband, the company faces minimal competitive pressure in most of its service areas.

Mobile data has emerged as a key revenue driver for Safaricom as traditional voice services decline.

In the six months to September, the company’s mobile data revenue rose 18.2 percent to Sh44.4 billion, surpassing voice revenue for the first time.

Voice business recorded a 0.5 percent decline to Sh41 billion during the same period.

Industry observers have noted the growing global trend of dynamic pricing in telecommunications, where costs are adjusted based on demand, usage patterns and network congestion.

However, the model typically involves fluctuating prices rather than permanent reductions in service allocations at fixed price points.

The Communications Authority of Kenya, which regulates the sector, has not issued any public statement on the matter despite its mandate to protect consumers from predatory pricing by dominant market players.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​