Mobile service provider Airtel registered 1.2 million new subscribers in the second quarter of the current financial year.
This is the biggest rise in subscribers recorded by a Kenyan mobile service provider in a short period.
According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Airtel had a 20 per cent increase, which pushed the overall number of subscribers 42.8 million.
“The total number of mobile subscriptions recorded by Airtel rose to 7.3 million subscriptions from 6.1 million,” said a report from CA.
“This marked an increase of 20.7 per cent during the quarter.”
The period under review was between October to December 2017 during the hightened political season.
During the period, many Kenyan firms recorded losses across the board.
Leading mobile services provider Safaricom faced challenges after Opposition leader Raila Odinga called on his supporters to boycott the firm.
Raila even went ahead to acquire an Airtel sim card.
It is not clear weather the boycott by Raila helped Airtel gain the subscribers.
Airtel’s market share has now widened to 17.2 per cent from 14.9 per cent recorded during the previous quarter.