[Kictanet] Operators alarmed by slow ICT reforms

[Emmanuel Njenga]

Hello all,

Can people shed more light into this.

http://www.eastandard.net/mags/fs/news.php?articleid=24957

Regards,

Njenga

---------------

Operators alarmed by slow ICT reforms

By Alari Alare

Reforms progress in the fast growing telecommunications sub-sector could 
suffer a major setback if plans by the Communication Commission of Kenya 
(CCK) to outlaw VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) are implemented.

Last week industry sources indicated that CCK Director-General John 
Waweru was planning to restrict the provision of the popular Internet 
telephone service that has drastically lowered international call rates 
to one provider – a stance he has maintained since his days at Telkom Kenya.

Waweru’s position, which stakeholders see as a reversal of the progress 
the telecom sector had made towards full liberalisation, sparked fresh 
fears that the regulator was determined to take the industry back to the 
days when State-owned Telkom Kenya enjoyed exclusivity in the provision 
of Internet services.

Sources at CCK indicated that Waweru had put on hold the issuance of 
licenses for VoIP providers pending a review of the rules governing the 
sector.

The Telecommunication Service Provider Association of Kenya (Tespok) 
expressed concern over the delay in release of the guidelines and 
questioned CCK’s commitment to full liberalisation of the VoIP market.

The association’s chairman Joseph Mucheru said members were concerned 
about on-goings at CCK. He accused the regulator of stifling the 
industry’s growth through frequent change of goal posts.

CCK, however, denied that it was backtracking on the reforms. Mr Mutua 
Muthusi, CCK’s Assistant Director in charge of public relations and 
communications said new guidelines will soon be introduced to facilitate 
business in the segment.

"In about a month’s time, we are going to have the guidelines. We have 
taken into consideration responses from various stakeholders so as to 
come up with something that will not police the operators but guide them 
in their operations," he said.

Muthusi said it was the CCK’s intention to seek industry consensus 
before implementing any licensing structures that could hurt licensed 
operators. "CCK does not believe in prescribing regulations on each and 
every activity of the industry. Rather it would be more appropriate for 
the players to develop self-regulating mechanisms in certain areas."

He said delay in release of the guidelines had been caused by CCK’s 
commitment to involving service providers in the formulation of rules 
within which they operate.

Since Waweru swapped places with Sammy Kirui, the then CCK 
Director-General, not much has taken place in the sector apart from last 
month’s consultative meeting with industry players.

CCK’s changed strategy also threatens the legality of existing VoIP 
operators.

The process of legalising VoIP started off last year through radical 
market reforms that dismantled Telkom Kenya’s monopoly of the Internet 
service provision.

In December last year, CCK had declared VoIP legal and asked Internet 
Service Providers (ISP’s) to surrender their licenses for modification 
to allow them carry multimedia traffic. Licenses were then issued to 
Internet Backbone and Gateway Operators (IBGO) allowing them to carry 
VoIP in their networks.

Though IBGO operators were not allowed to sell the service directly to 
the end users, ISPs were given a go ahead to do so.

Before he was sent on compulsory leave and later deployed to Telkom 
Kenya, Kirui had also promised to release VoIP guidelines to regulate 
the market.

Last month, Waweru held a consultative meeting with industry players and 
promised to issue the VoIP guidelines during the National ICT Conference 
that was held in Mombasa later that month. That did not materialize.

The failure by Waweru to honour his promise left the operators, who have 
invested heavily in the business, at the crossroads with many of them 
wondering whether the telecommunications regulator was still committed 
to pursuing reforms that had been implemented in recent months.

Tespok also read mischief in the move by CCK to allow IBGOs to vend VoIP 
service, while denying retailers access to it.

"Backbone operators (IBGOs) are like wholesalers in this process, ISPs 
are the retailers who should sell the service to end users. As it is now 
the retailers cannot offer the service as CCK is holding onto their 
licenses," said Mucheru.

Until the CCK issues the amended licenses, the law bars ISPs from 
carrying VoIP traffic.

Mucheru said delay in release of the licences once again raised the 
question as to who should distribute the service to end-users?"

What has incensed Tespok most, however, is CCK’s reluctance to fast 
track reforms in the sector. The association views restriction of ISPs 
from carrying VoIP in their networks as a deliberate policy shift that 
is aimed at creating a lucrative black market.

"This is a service that the Kenyans badly need to reduce the cost of 
doing business in the country. Restricting the retail element therefore 
opens up vending through the black-market," said Mucheru.

While at Telkom Kenya, Waweru had disconnected ISP Kenya Limited’s high 
capacity line that the firm used to offer VoIP services.

Kirui, the managing director of Telkom Kenya, who was then at the helm 
of CCK had ordered Telkom Kenya to restore the line but the latter 
refused to abide by the directive.

Muthusi said the CCK wanted telecommunications operators to settle 
inter-connection agreement commercially without waiting for the 
regulator’s intervention.

"This should be handled through business negotiations in the best 
interests of the operators and consumers," he said. The regulator, said 
Muthusi, would only make a ruling if the parties fail to reach a consensus.

The near standoff between the industry and the regulator comes barely 
nine months after the CCK released a new licensing structure to guide 
the market in move to liberalise the telecommunications sector.