Safaricom Leads Kenya’s Network Quality Race with 89.72% score
A pedestrian walks on a sideway outside the Safaricom mobile phone customer care centre in the central business district of Nairobi, Kenya, November 10, 2021. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi
Safaricom has emerged as Kenya’s highest-rated mobile network operator, achieving an overall score of 89.72% in the latest Quality of Service (QoS) report released by the Communications Authority of Kenya for the 2024–2025 financial year.
The regulator’s assessment places Safaricom ahead of its competitors, with Airtel Kenya scoring 81.14%, while Telkom Kenya trailed at 52.76%, below the minimum compliance threshold set by the authority.
The report underscores Safaricom’s continued leadership in the telecommunications sector at a time when demand for data and digital services is accelerating across the country.
The evaluation was conducted under the authority’s 2017 QoS framework, which measures operator performance across three main areas: end-to-end network performance through drive and walk tests, network performance indicators, and customer experience.
Safaricom delivered the strongest results across key benchmarks. In end-to-end drive tests, it scored 90.36%, significantly outperforming Airtel’s 76.47% and Telkom’s 47.94%. Both Safaricom and Airtel recorded perfect scores of 100% in network performance indicators, while Telkom posted 60%, pointing to gaps in infrastructure efficiency and service reliability.
On customer experience, Safaricom again led with a satisfaction rating of 70%, narrowly edging Airtel at 68.4%, while Telkom scored 60%, indicating persistent challenges in meeting user expectations.
Notably, Safaricom was the only operator to meet performance targets across all five regional clusters assessed, highlighting its consistent service delivery nationwide, both in urban centres and remote areas.
Industry analysts say the results cement Safaricom’s position as the benchmark for reliability in Kenya’s rapidly evolving digital economy.
However, the Communications Authority flagged a broader decline in overall sector performance over the past four years, attributing it to surging data consumption and increasing strain on network infrastructure.
With smartphone penetration rising and more services shifting online, operators are under growing pressure to maintain speed, expand coverage, and ensure consistent service quality.
The report provides an independent snapshot of operator performance and points to widening disparities within the sector.
Even amid these challenges, Safaricom has maintained a clear lead across all core metrics, reinforcing its standing as the country’s most dependable mobile network provider.
The latest findings also highlight the urgency for competitors such as Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya to accelerate infrastructure investments and improve service delivery as Kenya’s digital economy continues to scale.
Regulators have indicated that ongoing monitoring will be key to ensuring operators keep pace with evolving consumer expectations and uphold quality standards across the industry.