[kictanet] Sasanet

Wed Feb 21 10:51:04 EAT 2007

Alex I believe you saw this on the site, isn't it enough or what do you
guys mean?

"Due to a system upgrade that is currently in progress, the Sasanet Free
sms service and purchase of sms credits are temporarily unavailable.
Please check back again later". 

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused, but strive to
continually improve our service to you.

Thanks,

-----Original Message-----
From: kictanet-bounces+nicholas=tespok.co.ke at kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+nicholas=tespok.co.ke at kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf
Of Mike Theuri
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 3:10 AM
To: Nick
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Sasanet

Perhaps there is more than meets the eye considering their site seems to
be up and running per a visual inspection ? Is there more behind the
scenes that might not be obvious ?
On 2/19/07, Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru at yahoo.com> wrote:
Wouldn't you be curious to find out a very popular free internet-based
www.sasanet.co.ke is now no longer working? I wonder why? 

/Alex

Mike Theuri <mike.theuri at gmail.com> wrote:
Alex, 

Thank you for sharing the blog on the anti-consumer setting in the
country. The blog has very useful information that is not being shared
with Kenyan consumers and it is key that consumer rights are upheld.
Your blog out to be brought to more attention of key stakeholders in ICT
and to consumers alike. 

Yes, the Ministry and CCK are best placed to authoritatively comment on
such an issue. However I believe that what AT&T is discontinuing is the
ability to use a "call back" number from Kenya to the US. It is very
likely that the call back numbers which are 0800 numbers are no longer
profitable for AT&T especially given that they cost as high as $3/min.
Technically they are supposed to be cheaper to use than if one was to
"call back" the US direct from any other country be it Kenya or the UK.
However with AT&T's rate to call the US from Kenya as high as it is and
with local providers beating their tariffs they may have opted to drop
this service. What this might do, is it might leave AT&T US based
customers unable to call the US using their AT&T calling cards for what
would otherwise be exorbitant prices. 

The wording of the AT&T notice on the lack of no future support for
calls originating from Kenya wasn't very clear and after some digging
around it appears that it referred to users of AT&T who utilize call
back services while traveling overseas, it might just be due to stiff
competition now that VOIP has been deregulated and tariffs have fallen
(though not low enough) and that no one in their right mind would be
willing to pay $3+ per minute for a call to the US when for a extremely
small fraction one could make the same phone call at a lower rate. 

Even then the tariffs in general are not fair enough for Kenyan
consumers and it is an uphill battle to enforce changes when some of the
largest tax payers happen to be communication providers. It is
unthinkable that the government would do much to jeopardize a large and
steady tax revenue stream to save the honorable consumer. Increasingly
huge profits in a formerly depressed and now recovering economy like
ours raise the question whether the consumer is getting a fair deal. It
is akin to oil companies making several times over some nations GDP in
profits and claiming that they are struggling themselves and offering
the best prices possible. Price regulation in the industry is something
that should be looked into to further to try and strike a fair balance
between consumers needs and investors return on equity. 

Mike
On 2/18/07, Alex Gakuru < alex.gakuru at yahoo.com
<mailto:alex.gakuru at yahoo.com> > wrote:
Mike:

Although this is a consumer issue, you may notice we have quite some
domestic wars with the prevailing anti-consumer setting,
http://ictconsumer.blogspot.com/ for example.

By engaging foreign networks, I am afraid the ICT Consumers Association
of Kenya could be considered acting ultra vires thus the Ministry of
Information and Communications, CCK, and perhaps also Foreign Affairs
are best suited to comment. 

Would a provocative question, like "why has a private US telco
unilaterally cut-off communication from Kenya to the US jeopardizing
both a basic human right and the national outsourcing strategy" earn a
quick response from government?   

rgds,

Alex

Mike Theuri < mike.theuri at gmail.com <mailto:mike.theuri at gmail.com> >
wrote:
As an after thought, this may mean calls dialed through this number
which by itself is a very expensive option and which may reflect the
effects of voip and lowered costs of international calls: 

Kenya 0-800-2201-15 (608) 
On 2/18/07, Mike Theuri < mike.theuri at gmail.com
<mailto:mike.theuri at gmail.com> > wrote:
Does anyone know why the below might be the case ? AT&T printed this in
small print on bills sent to customer in January. Considering 
that AT&T is the largest telco in the US this is a serious issue :

International Call Origination: 
Effective March 1, 2007, our International Call
Origination service will change. Current access
numbers for calls originating internationally
will change. Please visit att.com/dialing-guide
<http://att.com/dialing-guide> 
to print the new dialing-guide for your reference; 
or call the number on your bill to order a new
dialing guide. Calls from Kenya to US will
no longer be supported. International to 
international calling from St. Martin will no 
longer be supported. Also, International 
service will be expanded to over 60 additional
countries. To find out rates and countries where
we provide service, please visit 
att.com/intl-rates  <http://att.com/intl-rates> .

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