Following the launch of the third edition of the Maisha Ni Digital campaign, telecoms company Safaricom is set to digitize around two million customers in Kenya with the introduction of affordable Google-powered 4G devices into the mobile phone market.

The smartphone campaign, which sees the Neon Ray and Neon Nova 4G devices made available, will help deliver a digital lifestyle experience for Safaricom’s customers still using feature phones. Customers now have more options for phone upgrades through convenient payment plans and personalized data offers.

The partnership with Google gives Safaricom access to Android Oreo (Go edition), a new version of Google’s Android mobile operating system that features apps using less memory, storage space, and data. This means users get more storage space for themselves while enjoying the high-quality digital experience.

According to Safaricom’s Chief Customer Officer, Sylvia Mulinge, Safaricom aims to transform lives by providing solutions to people with affordable phone options, which will allow customers to enjoy a superior digital experience without stretching their finances. Accompanied by convenient payment plans and data offers, Mulinge described the new 4G Neon phones as an “advancement towards inclusivity.”

Safaricom’s collaboration with Google (developer of Android) is in line the latter’s mission to “bring the power of computing to everyone in order to ensure great experience across the broadest range of devices,” as revealed by the company’s Director of Africa Android Partnerships, Mahir Sahin.

An earlier partnership between both companies under the same digital campaign saw the birth of the Neon Kicka 4 smartphone which runs on Android 8.1 (Go Edition), optimized for entry-level devices and supports high-speed 3G Broadband.

“Android Oreo (Go edition) is specifically optimized to bring the magic of Google and Android to smartphones with limited memory and processing power, and we’re excited to see Safaricom joining that mission by launching the Neon Ray and Neon Nova phones on Android Oreo (Go edition),” Sahin added.

The Neon Ray device runs on Android GO, while Neon Nova runs on Android 9.0, and some of the customers who already purchased the smartphones gave positive feedback as reported by Capital FM. The latest smartphones will be improved to support high-speed 4G Broadband, allowing the customers to enjoy the speed, reliability and wide coverage of the Safaricom network.