Safaricom has partnered with media houses in Kenya in a new innovation that will see newspapers made available to all smartphone customers in the country at KES 20 ($USD0.19) per issue.
The price will be deducted from a customer’s airtime enabling them buy newspapers daily and read them on the go with each purchased issue available for 7 days.
The KES 20 price per newspaper includes data usage meaning a customer’s data bundle will not be consumed when reading through each paper. No registration or signup will be necessary neither will customers be requested to download and install any application.
The service can be accessed by visiting Safaricom.com and selecting the “Discover” option followed by “Newspapers”, upon which a customer will see newspapers available for purchase. Customers will need to have their data on when accessing the portal as each purchase is linked to their mobile phone number for ease of access.
In addition to the portal, customers can also dial *550# to purchase the newspapers. Purchased publications will appear under “My Newspaper” tab for 7 days after purchase.
Newspapers currently available from the Standard Group include The Standard, Saturday Standard, Sunday Standard and The Nairobian. Nation Media Group will have Daily Nation, Saturday Nation, Sunday Nation and The Business Daily.
Stephen Gitagama, CEO, Nation Media Group
Nation Media Group remains at the forefront of innovation and continues to explore different solutions to keep its readers informed and up to date as news breaks.
Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom
The world is quickly evolving to be digitally-led and we see our customers increasingly seeking ways in which they can achieve their goals by tapping into the convenience of their smartphone.
