Until now I am certain that giga bundles is a product that Safaricom had never imagined it will one day be Among it's data plans, and still term it as a promotion.
Safaricom has enjoyed a huge market share in the country, and it's competitors have for a long time left frustrated, with many exiting the Kenyan market. The few that have chosen to stick by, have had to finally consider a merger in order to have more fire power to take on the giant.
Each and every strategy that other telecommunications providers have tried to come up with in order to tame Safaricom's success have failed, including the mobile number and mobile money interoperability services, except one; data.
Data is the third most consumed telecommunications product after mobile money and voice calls respectively. With Safaricom dominating the first two, other telcos providers now focus on data, and have come up with great data bundles, that have made Safaricom in several occasions yield to pressure and adjust their data plans or introduce new products in order to stay ahead of the completion.
Safaricom giga bundle is such a product that came as a result of stiff competition it received from Airtel and Telkom Kenya.
In this article we are going to discuss how the giga bundle came in to being, but first:
What are Safaricom giga bundles?
Giga bundles are Safaricom's heavy duty data bundles with a daily and weekly validity periods as given below:
- The daily 1 GB at Ksh. 99
- Weekly 10 GB @ Ksh.999.
First to take the plunge was Airtel Kenya, when it introduced what was going to be the cheapest daily data in the country.
Airtel subscribers for the first time enjoyed daily 1 GB bundle at only Ksh.99.
Telkom immediately followed with a much better option of 1Gb+1Gb for the same price.
Hoping that this would be unsustainable show off, Safaricom kept on waiting for their natural extinction.
By the time Safaricom customers were complaining about how Safaricom was swallowing their highly priced bundles like an hungry hyena, Airtel and Telkom customers were enjoying the most affordable data plans, and that was not all. There was the free WhatsApp and the crazy Telkom night owl whit it's amazing 5Gb data for just Ksh.39.
On the other hand, Jamii Telekom was not making things easier for Safaricom, with their crazy 4 G internet plans.
With nothing much to do but follow suit, Safaricom reluctantly introduced the daily 1 Gb. This to me was a raw deal, and wrote an article on What you should know about the giga bundle before buying it.
There were so many limitations with this offer as compared to the rivals, and the fact that Safaricom was placing this plan as a promotion was not making me have a soft heart for this bundle either.
However, Safaricom knew they have one advantage over it's rivals, and this is what saved them.
When it comes to internet speeds, especially in the villages, no network can come close to Safaricom, with a strong 3 G signal in almost all over the country.
When airtel revamped its Amazing data bundles to include more data and free WhatsApp, Safaricom finally did the same and introduced a free WhatsApp whch kicks in once the bundles run out. This was also another attempt to sugarcoat their highly priced data bundles, and many seem pleased so far, unaware what they are missing.
If you read this article on which network offers the best free WhatsApp, you can't help but feel exactly what I go through each time I am forced to use safaricom bundles due to their speeds.
When Safaricom introduced their new data offers, they removed the daily 1 GB and replaced it with 500mb+500sms with free WhatsApp for Ksh.99
Their argument was that their statistics showed that many of those who bought the giga bundle never exhausted their data, and the average use was at two third.
This did not go down well with Safaricom subscribers, because everyone expected even an increase in data or a reduction in price.
Finally the giga bundle was reintroduced, with another weekly 10 GB giga bundle for Ksh.999.
The validity period of the daily giga bundle is 24 hours while that of weekly bundle is 7 days. The validity can only be increased by a purchase of a similar offer.
If this had come during the days when a daily bundle could be extended with a 30 day bundle, then all Kenyans would now be very rich thanks to Safaricom Kenya.
Also Read: How to purchase Safaricom Tunukiwa plans
How to purchase Safaricom giga bundles.
1.Using USD.
- Dial *544# on your Safaricom line.
- Select option 5,'Giga bundle'
- For the daily 1 GB select option 1.
- Go for option 2 to buy the weekly 10 GB.
2. On my Safaricom app.
- Log in to your Safaricom app.
- Go to services.
- Click on data and SMS plans.
- The daily giga bundle is on the daily data and weekly giga bundle under weekly plans.
There's no denial Safaricom have greatly contributed towards the growth of Kenya's economy with great services like M-pesa, lipa na mpesa and many more.
Currently, sending money to Kenya from abroad has been made easy and convenient with M-pesa global.
Various money lending platforms are now giving out loans worth millions of shillings daily through Mpesa
The giga bundles will remain the better option for many heavy internet users especially those outside major Kenyan cities and towns.
However, we can not hide the fact that Safaricom products and services remains the most expensive in the country, and since in most cases we dont have a choice we just have to dig deeper into our pockets to maintain the high cost of these services.
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