Let's talk... about cell phones

In the US, we pay monthly for cell service, even if it's a discount "prepaid" service.  Typically calls and text messages are included plus a certain amount of data services if it's for a smart phone.  

In Kenya, it is uncommon to pay for service by the month although it is an option. Most Kenyans elect to pay for airtime.  You pay for airtime by buying scratch cards. Like a scratch-off lottery ticket, you scratch off the gray coating to reveal a long PIN number.  Then you dial a series of numbers including the pin code and "send" to add the value to your account. 

See photos below of front and back of a 100 shilling scratch card. It's worth a little more than a dollar. It can be used to apply that value for calls/texts or for data services. After each call you make or text you send, you automatically receive a message telling you how much value that call or text cost. The cost is based on the length of the call and perhaps time of day and if the call was made to another customer of the same carrier or a different carrier.

Incidentally, because the pricing is different here in Kenya than in the US, it drives different behavior.  For example, calls here tend to be very brief and to the point. Kenyans don't get chatty on a phone call when paying by the second. At the end of the conversation they simply hang up. There may not even be a "goodbye".

When we first started coming here, the cell companies would handout Sim cards on the street hoping people would take them and then buy airtime from that company. Then a couple of years ago a federal law was implemented requiring all SIM cards to be registered.  Now each SIM card and phone number needs to be registered with an official ID such as a passport or drivers license.  The purpose of this is to prevent criminals from using "burner" or throw away cell phones in the process of committing crimes.

So the last couple of years it has been more difficult to get SIM cards. You had to go to a cell company's retail store to buy and register SIM cards. Also, if you don't use your cell service for three months, it automatically expires. Because of this I have to go through the process of buying SIM cards and registering them every year when we come here.

Now this year at least one of the carriers has gotten more aggressive with its marketing, and it is stationing people in various high-traffic areas with SIM cards to more easily facilitate the process. The upper picture shows a little table roadside with SIM card packages on it and a company representative who will do the registration process online via the phone. 

All in all the cost of owning and using a cell phone in Kenya is far less then in the US. I use an older iPhone while here and I probably won't spend more than $5 for voice, texting, and data.  Most people here have a simple "bar" style cell phone that makes calls and does simple text messaging.  They typically cost about $30 new or half that used. But I am seeing more and more smart phones here every year.

The data services here fail in comparison to the AT&T data services that I'm used to at home.  In most of the country there are 2G data services available and some 3G in the cities.  Even the 3G data is very, very slow. I'm a spoiled with 4G LTE high-speed data we have in the US.

Another difference here is that the cell phone companies also offer some banking services.  Many Kenyans don't have access to a regular bank. So the cell companies offer financial services similar to PayPal in a way. You can add money to your account and send money from your account to other people's accounts using the cell company network. This can be useful for paying for goods or services, or for sending funds back to relatives in a village that may need your financial support.

That's enough about cell phones, at least for now…

Sent from Kyle's AT&T iPhone