Part of being a Kenyan is the constant hunting for deals that can help you save a penny. With the economy as it is any deal that can save you a few shillings in my opinion is more than welcome. In this article i will be doing a cost comparison between what Airtel Kenya and Safaricom have to offer in terms of data packages. The significance of this will be to determine who between the two telcos offers the best value for money.
Daily Bundles
Both telco’s offer daily data bundle subscriptions as below;
Safaricom
Airtel
For the sake of comparison we will have a look at the data bundle priced at Kshs.20 for both telcos. At Safaricom for Kshs.20 one can access 35 MB of data and 35 SMS. At Airtel Kshs. 20 will get you 20 MB of data, 20 SMS and 8 minutes of voice across all networks, this offer also includes free Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter. What this means is that you access the three platforms for free regardless of whether you have data bundles or not!!! So in situations where a friend has sent one of those long videos you don’t have to wait to access the office Wi-Fi as downloading the same with Airtel UnlimiNet will cost you ZERO data bundles!!! This is unlike on the Safaricom network where downloading videos will be the end of your bundles.
Weekly Data Bundles
Safaricom
Airtel
As for the weekly data bundle Safaricom offers it lowest bundle at Kshs.5 which gives you a total of 5 MB meaning that 1 MB is priced at Kshs. 1. The highest bundle is the one for Kshs. 100 which gives you 130 MB of data.
Airtel on the other hand has its lowest bundle priced at Kshs.250. However, this comes with 500 MB of data, 100 minutes of talk time across all networks and 500 SMS across all networks.
On the weekly data bundle offer Airtel is the clear winner in regards to value for money. Take  for example the 100 minutes of talk time across all networks, you find that on the Safaricom network a minute of talk time goes for Kshs.4 across all networks. This means for Kshs.250 Airtel is giving you talk time worth Kshs. 400 on the Safaricom network. The offer also comes with 500 SMS, Safaricom charges Kshs.1 per sms hence they are valued at Kshs.500.
Basically Airtel’s weekly bundle is valued at Kshs.500 for data (assuming that 1MB costs Kshs.1), Kshs.400 for talktime and Kshs.500 for sms bringing the total value to Kshs.1,400 all this for Kshs.250 how about that!!!
Monthly Data Bundles
Safaricom
Airtel
For the monthly data bundle we will focus on the bundle sold at Ksh. 2,000 by both telcos. At Ksh. 2,000 Safaricom will give you a total of 7.5 GB of data. Airtel on the other hand will also give you 7.5 GB of data but sweetens it with 1,200 minutes of talk time and 10,000 SMS across all networks.
If you take a look at the monetary value of Airtel’s bundle vis a vis Safaricom you realise that for Ksh. 2,000 you can get Ksh. 16,800 value (that is 7.5 MB at Ksh. 2,000, 1,200 minutes of talk time with a minute valued at Ksh. 4 each and 10,000 sms valued at Ksh. 1 per sms).