Safaricom Expands Number Capacity as Mobile Subscriber Base Nears 58 Million

Safaricom is creating room for more customers. The telco has introduced nine new mobile number prefixes as its subscriber base continues to grow.

The new prefixes became available from August 10, 2026. They include 0118, 0119, 0140, 0141, 0142, 0143, 0180, 0181 and 0182. Customers can acquire the new numbers through Safaricom Shops and authorised dealers across the country.

The move is aimed at expanding the pool of mobile numbers available for new subscribers. Customers assigned the new prefixes will continue accessing all existing Safaricom services without any changes.

The expansion comes as Safaricom’s customer base reaches 57.9 million mobile subscriptions. The company currently commands a 68.9 percent share of Kenya’s mobile market.

The additional prefixes are part of a broader growth strategy. Safaricom is also investing heavily in network infrastructure to support rising demand for mobile and data services.
The company plans to build 300 more network sites. This follows the deployment of an initial 200 sites, bringing the latest rollout to a total of 500 sites.

Safaricom has also enhanced selected data bundles. The KSh20 package has been increased from 100MB to 250MB without a price adjustment.

The company clarified that the new prefixes increase the number of mobile lines available for issuance. They do not affect network coverage or traffic-handling capacity.

Demand for data services continues to rise across the country. Mobile broadband users consumed more than 800 million gigabytes of data in the first quarter of 2026.

That represented a six percent increase from the previous quarter. Average monthly data consumption stood at 15.1GB per subscription and 53.5GB among 5G users.

The latest numbering expansion highlights Safaricom’s efforts to accommodate a growing subscriber base while strengthening its network and digital services ecosystem.