Telkom drops to fifth‑largest telco as Jamii overtakes it

Telkom Kenya has officially hit rock bottom in the mobile rankings. Once a dominant pillar of the industry, the veteran telco has slid to fifth place, overtaken by both Equitel and Jamii Telecommunications. The numbers from the Communications Authority tell a story of a shrinking empire; by late 2025, Telkom’s subscriber base had collapsed to roughly 744,500 users. Considering the company held 1.34 million subscribers just two years prior, they have effectively lost half their audience while the rest of the market expanded.

We are now seeing the emergence of a barbell market. On one end, giants like Safaricom and Airtel have achieved a scale that makes them essentially untouchable. On the other end, agile, nichified players have found their stride. Jamii Telecommunications (Faiba) won by owning the data-hungry urban professional. Similarly, Equitel surpassed them by being a bank first and a telco second.

Telkom’s tragedy is that it got stuck in the middle. It attempted to compete with Safaricom on voice services while trying to keep up with Jamii on data, all while burdened by aging infrastructure and a rotating door of ownership. This lack of identity has proved fatal in a sector that demands specialization or massive scale.

The quality of service data exposes the internal rot. Telkom’s performance score recently plummeted to 52.7%, nearly 30 points below the regulatory floor. In a market where switching providers is as simple as swapping a SIM card, customers aren't loyal to legacy brands. They are loyal to the bars on their phone. When your dropped-call rate is triple the allowed limit, you cease to be a national carrier and instead become a liability.

This decline is anchored in an infrastructure trap. While Jamii was busy laying fiber and building a reputation for high-speed 4G, Telkom was locked in a bitter dispute with American Tower Corporation over unpaid fees. The resulting site shutdowns crippled their coverage and created a death spiral. Poor service led to fewer subscribers, which led to less revenue, making it impossible to pay for the towers needed to fix the network.

I'll ask you straight up. Does Telkom deserve to exist? Jamii’s rise to fourth place proves there is room for growth in Kenya for those who can provide a stable connection. Telkom is slowly fading out of the conversation entirely.