Safaricom is the leading telecommunications company operating in Kenya. It provides a range of products and services for telephony, GPRS, 3G, EDGE, data and fax. Over time it has faced numerous problems, one of which is the entry of many other telecom companies into the market over the years. The companies include Telkom Orange, Yu and Zain. So far the main rival is Zain. The problem caused by the entry of other companies is that they cause unwanted competition (decrease in market share). This problem can be solved by conducting marketing research. The first step in the marketing research process is to identify and define the problem. Defining the problem would mean delving into it and explaining why it should be seen as a problem. In this case Safaricom has identified the number of competitors as threatening to lose customers by reducing market share and this will lead to lower profit margins and growth at the end of the year, contrary to what they want. The second step is to develop your approach, generally speaking, the approach should be developed almost exclusively around a defined set of objectives. Clearer objectives developed in the first phase will allow them to develop a better approach. Developing your approach should consist of an honest assessment of your team's market research capabilities, establishing a budget, understanding the environment and its influencing factors, and formulating hypotheses. Safaricom needs to find an approach to counter the problem they are facing, which is competition. A select team at Safaricom came up with a number of possible solutions and chose an effective one. The first solution would be to introduce lower call rates for subscribers and introduce a competition in which only Safaricom subscribers can participate. The second solution Safaricom can organize a charity event where the money raised goes to a special cause, for example food relief, tree planting, etc. This would have a social effect on the market. And the final solution would be supremacy to control the telephony industry by overtaking other operators to be the first to launch Apple's iPhone 3G. To do all this they need to do extensive research to help them make a decision. Safaricom has decided to be the first to launch Apple's iPhone 3G, increasing its lead over the competition. The third step would be market research to enable the firm to make an appropriate decision on all elements of the marketing mix and reduce the risk of investing in an unprofitable marketing venture.