The Technical Bench

Daggers are drawn and even though Safaricom said tehy wont engage in price wars, all indications are that they are really not taking the challenges lying down. I think that for the first time, Safaricom is really scared of the competition. You should have seen that on Friday () when the following two promotions were launched by the competitors.

Zain Kenya on Friday launched a one Million shillings a week customer reward program.  Under the Angukia Milioni na Zain lottery, customers will earn points for using their Zain lines and be entered into a weekly draw in which they stand to win cash and other lucrative prizes. Safaricom immeditely followed with a 150Million Shillings promotion dubbed Masonko na Safaricom where you will get to win 1 Million everyday.

Zain Kenya say through the "Angukia Milioni na Zain"  reward program, 13 lucky customers will each pocket one million shillings between October () and December () this year. Customers will earn points for incoming and outgoing calls, incoming and outgoing sms, topping up their lines with any denominations, Internet () access and also subscribing to Club 20, Ziki, Kopa Credo, Me2U and please Call () me services.

"Points earned will be entered into the lottery immediately. The more the points a customer accumulates, the more the chances of winning,” he said.  The points earned by customers will be accumulated daily and then entered into a weekly draw.  After the draw, customers will begin earning points afresh for the subsequent week’s draw.  Said Mr. Meza: "The reward applies automatically to all our customers on prepaid and post paid tariff plans. No subscription is required.”

Through Masonko na Safaricom, both Safaricom PrePay and PostPay customers have a chance to win a weekly prize of Sh5 million and a daily prize of Sh1 million. Masonko na Safaricom runs for 10 weeks between September () 26 to December 2 and will also include consolation prizes worth Sh5 million.

The activation will climax in a Grand Draw whose winner will walk away with a staggering Sh25 million. Safaricom PrePay customers qualify for one entry for every top-up of Sh10, meaning the more one tops up their air-time, the more their chance of winning. For Safaricom PostPay subscribers, the currency for one entry is air-time usage worth Sh10.

How to Win in the Masonko na Safaricom Promotion

1.   Safaricom PrePay subscribers are entitled to one entry for every top-up worth Sh10, while their PostPay counterparts get the same chance (one entry) on air-time usage worth Sh10.

2.   To check entries, one is required to send a blank SMS to line 1010. Such SMS will not be charged.

3.   The promotion runs for 70 days between September 26 and December 4.

4.   Winners will be contacted through mobile number 0729 333 333.