A man inserts a SIM card into a mobile phone. FILE PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
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The much-contested Equity thin SIM eventually enters the telcoms market on Monday after the High Court last month lifted an order barring its roll out.
In a statement, Equity said it would launch the SIM cards at a media and investors briefing.
“Equity Group Holdings Ltd will on Monday, July 20, host a media and investors briefing session to officially launch Equitel — a platform that combines mobile and banking services,” the statement said.
Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi declined to speak of the product, saying he was reserving his comments for the launch day.
The thin SIM will be used by both feature phones and smartphones. It is placed on a subscriber’s original SIM card, turning the device into a dual-SIM phone.
Over 200,000 customers have actively been using the normal Equitel SIM card in a pilot phase since last year. Entry of the thin SIM technology is set to attract more subscribers to Equitel because of what some users say are expensive mobile money rates by Safaricom’s M-Pesa.
It is almost free to send money using Equitel, “If you send Sh100, you will pay Sh1. If you send Sh1,000, you will pay a maximum of Sh25,” said Mr Mwangi.
Safaricom — Kenya’s largest telco with 19 million customers actively using M-Pesa — charges between Sh1 and Sh110 to transact on M-Pesa. To withdraw money, subscribers pay between Sh10 and Sh330.
However, the prepaid telephone rates from Equitel to all networks cost Sh4 per minute. Text messages are charged at Sh1 while Internet is Sh4 per MB. Safaricom and Airtel charge a flat rate of Sh3 per minute.
The deal comes at a time when Safaricom has also increased withdrawal fees from bank to customer accounts through M-Pesa.
Communications Authority of Kenya board chairman Ben Gituku said Equity took the necessary insurance to mitigate any risk posed by the technology.
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