[kictanet] the long fibre lie...Regulatory Action limited.
Wainaina Mungai
wainaina at madeinkenya.org
Tue Aug 18 17:26:33 EAT 2009
Hi Tom,
This is where I sneak into the debate and salute you!
Is there a investor in SEACOM or TEAMS that would differ with the submission
as a reason to significantly lower internet access rates?
KDN are charging $600 for a 1MB/1MB link over fibre and $300 for 512K/512K.
That is a significant drop because *25,000/= *is what you'd be paying for a
512k/512k instead of 125,000/= per month if you had 512/512 on some unnamed
ISP a few months ago.
I do not really believe we should be debating whether or not there will be
an immediate drop. It is clear that an immediate drop has happened with some
providers. Maybe we should just move to the provider capable to passing the
gains we have for so long fought for....business/economic arguments and
analogies aside.
Regards,
Wainaina
On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 5:07 PM, Maliti, Tom <tmaliti at ap.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Assuming all things remain equal, here's a line from this year's budget
> speech that suggests, at the least, ISPs should be bringing down prices as
> well as offering bigger bundles:
>
> ******************************
> First, *Mr. Speaker, *The East African Marine System Ltd (Teams) and
> Seacom Kenya Ltd
>
> have invested heavily in under sea fibre optic cables, whose completion and
> full deployment is
>
> expected to reduce significantly the cost of communication in our country.
> In addition to other
>
> measures which the Government has so far taken to encourage such investment
> and to further
>
> encourage the uptake of this facility by the internet service providers and
> other intermediaries, I
>
> propose:
>
> (i) To allow the internet service providers to offset against their taxable
> income the cost
>
> incurred in acquiring the right to use the fibre optic cable over a period
> of twenty years;
>
> (ii) To increase wear and tear on telecommunication equipment including the
> fibre optic cable
>
> from 12.5% to 20%;
>
> (iii) To provide tax deduction of 5% on computer software.
>
> *********************************
> May be we need to look at things from a different angle ...
>
>
> Tom Maliti
> Correspondent
> East Africa Bureau
>
> Direct line: +254 20 285 9109
> Office line: +254 20 285 9000
> +254 734 555 252
> Fax: +254 20 2724726
> Mobile +254 733 641 984
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* kictanet-bounces+tmaliti=ap.org at lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:
> kictanet-bounces+tmaliti <kictanet-bounces%2Btmaliti>=ap.org@
> lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Florence Etta
> *Sent:* 18 August 2009 14:24
> *To:* Maliti, Tom
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] the long fibre lie...Regulatory Action limited.
>
> If the WASC experience is anythng to go by falling prices are not
> guaranteed simply by the presence of increased bandwidth!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
> FE
>
> (Still alive, kicking and yes lurking!)
>
>
> Florence Etta PhD
> Telephone:
> Nairobi Mobile: +254-733-621-851
> New York Rez: +1-917-639-3691
> Canada Rez: +1-613-232-2729
> Alternative Email:florence.etta at gmail.com<Email%3Aflorence.etta at gmail.com>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* warigia bowman <warigia at gmail.com>
> *To:* feanywhere at yahoo.co.uk
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 18 August, 2009 7:02:56
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] the long fibre lie...Regulatory Action limited.
>
> Dear Alex
> I share your frustration about the high prices and low bandwidth. My bamba
> is still slow. I too believe consumers are not getting a fair deal.
>
> That being said, in Ndemo's defense, he is one of the most honest and
> hardworking PSes I have met in my research so far in this beautiful country
> of ours, across many different sectors. In terms of roles, the PS is the
> implementer, whereas the Minister is the policy "maker." Although lets be
> honest, Ndemo often does most of his bosses work, while not getting the
> credit, or the paycheck . . .
>
> I think your ire, while very justified, should be directed at the
> Ministers, and at the companies, particularly Safaricom and Zain.
>
> Yours, Warigia
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Warigia,
>>
>> Below message to consumers and skunkworks lists sparked the heated
>> discussions.
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:11 AM, Alex Gakuru<gakuru at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > What a long optics fibre lie the whole thing was...
>> >
>> > ---Business Daily---
>> >
>> > "we do not anticipate that [Internet] prices will drop as drastically
>> > as initially indicated or within a short time-frame"
>> >
>> > <
>> http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/639386/-/u8ardrz/-/index.html
>> >
>> >
>> > "..it was planning to implement an immediate 24 per cent discount on
>> > its internet charges and promised higher discounts once connections to
>> > international fibre optic links went live by the end of next month.."
>> >
>> > <
>> http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/638808/-/u8bcyoz/-/index.html
>> >
>> >
>> > ---summary---
>> > in short, consumers are going to continue being ripped-off while a
>> > just too comfortable "hands-off" government sits back pretentiously
>> > expecting "market-forces" to push prices down -
>> >
>> > The way I see it? we have several options a) to demand government
>> > officers( Ndemo & Co.) who promised cheap internet to resign, b)
>> > demand regulator to wake up and proactively set the prices c) continue
>> > living in a denial and that,hopefully, one day we will have
>> > "affordable" internet in Kenya.
>> >
>> > Where is Bitange Ndemo and and why did he lie to us and raised
>> > Kenyans' hopes for cheap internet? we shall have serious problems to
>> > believe anything he promises henceforth. He should resign if internet
>> > prices do not go down as he promised.
>> >
>> > And who runs this country anyway? telecommunication companies or the
>> > government and the regulator?
>> >
>> > Alex
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > ke-internetusers mailing list
>> > ke-internetusers at bdix.net
>> > http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
>> >
>>
>> Waundo,
>>
>> Kenya current problem not that old one, its different and it is
>> "failed telecommunications market liberarisation."
>>
>>
>> " 3.4. Most rural areas still do not have Internet access despite
>> the fact that there
>> are many licensed ISPs. Additionally, the quality of service has
>> not
>> improved. Isn’t there a need to make provisions to enable
>> rural access and
>> enforce Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to guarantee quality
>> of service?
>> The licensed operators present said that the major factors hindering
>> their rollout to the
>> rural areas are:
>> o High cost of connectivity offered by carriers.
>> Competition has been used,
>> as a means to lower prices however there seems to be
>> no correlation
>> between the cost and the number of players in the
>> market. The licensing
>> of more players in the IG&BO and PDNO licence has not
>> translated to
>> lower access costs.
>> o Competition may also be used as a means to improving
>> quality of service
>> delivery and encourage the use of Service Level
>> Agreements (SLA). This
>> however has not been evident in the Kenyan market.
>> o Finally, competition should result in increased access
>> and availability to
>> telecommunication service and infrastructure.
>> However, since rural areas
>> are not economically viable, most operators
>> concentrate operations in
>> urban centres."
>>
>> <http://www.cck.go.ke/isp_stakeholders.pdf>
>>
>> The question begs... What are the Ministry of Information and
>> Communications and the Regulator actually doing to ensure that
>> consumers benefit?
>>
>> For further erodes hopes, if not adds insult to consumers injuries, to
>> read on today's Business Daily "BUYOUT CCK says local ownership rule
>> waived to allow foreign investor own more than 80 p.c"
>>
>> Could some people in government actually responsible and/or prefer the
>> statu-quo to remain? Now is the time to ask some of these hard
>> questions- "academics" aside!
>>
>> Alex
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 12:28 PM, waudo siganga<emailsignet at mailcan.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Hi Warigia - First sorry for missing ur big day due to some other
>> commitment
>> > I had. I do not believe governments or governmental agencies should set
>> > consumer prices on anything. That is the work of market forces through
>> > competition. What governments need to do is ensure an environment that
>> > fosters competition. The example of ATT is from the old days when ATT
>> was a
>> > monopoly operator. It reminds me of the 1998 Kenya Communications Act
>> that
>> > gave monopoly status to Telkom Kenya in provision of some services such
>> as
>> > landlines in Nairobi and international telephony. The mistaken rationale
>> was
>> > that Telkom would rake in some "super profits" which would in turn be
>> > utilised in universal access provision. Needless to say those objectives
>> > were never attained. All along we prodded the Government to free the
>> market
>> > through competition and private sector investment. When this happend as
>> in
>> > the case of the mobile telephony sector the results in terms of better
>> and
>> > more afrordable services were quick to manifest. Our argument in the
>> case of
>> > universal access was that it was better for the Government to allow
>> freedom
>> > in the market and then use fiscal instruments to raise funds from the
>> > IMPROVED, EXPANDED and CHEAPER services. This is being done today
>> through a
>> > 10% excise tax on airtime and, believe me, most users do not even notice
>> it.
>> >
>> > With the marine fibre I noticed what looked like cross-ownership and
>> > cross-interest in the different ventures and maybe that can have an
>> effect
>> > on the competitive environment necessary to bring prices down
>> significantly.
>> >
>> > Kind Regards,
>> > Waudo
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:21 +0300, "warigia bowman" <warigia at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Dear Brian
>> >
>> > Do you believe that ISPs in Kenya are sufficiently competitive to keep
>> > prices fair? I am just asking. I really do not know.
>> >
>> > What about the concern people have expressed that KDN has dropped prices
>> > dramatically to ISPs, but consumers are not seeing the benefit.
>> >
>> > By the way, it is WONDERFUL to hear from you!
>> >
>> > Rigia
>> >
>> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Brian Munyao Longwe <
>> blongwe at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > Good point Warigia and the same applies here - CCK can and have
>> exercised
>> > their authority to regulate voice pricing - this is especially true when
>> > there is either a monopoly or an operator with significant market share.
>> >
>> > The same does not apply to market sectors like Internet services because
>> > there is full competition and never any player with significant market
>> > share. In the USA - FCC have never regulated Internet or bandwidth
>> pricing
>> > as market forces generally accomplish this.
>> >
>> > Best regards,
>> >
>> > Brian
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 11:11 AM, warigia bowman <warigia at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Dear colleagues
>> >
>> > Rates of operators can and have been regulated, In fact, in the United
>> > States we had something called rate of return regulation when ATT was a
>> > monopoly. They were allowed to charge a high rate, but in exchange, they
>> had
>> > to ensure every tiny village of even 200 had phone service. Why can't
>> our
>> > operators do that?
>> >
>> > Sincerely, Warigia
>> >
>> > On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 8:40 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Alex,
>> >
>> > Your have rightly qaulified your solution - as simple. Indeed it is.
>> Infact
>> > too simplistic to fly. The idea that the Regulator can reign in
>> Operators
>> > who charge "high" internet rates cannot and will not work. Think about
>> the
>> > in-famous SAT3 fiber link on the west coast of africa. Ask yourself why
>> the
>> > Regulators in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Angola, S-Africa etc have never
>> > stepped in and revoked licensces of operators over the last 15yrs of
>> high
>> > internet costs offered on the fiber...
>> >
>> > The answers are very complex...I will actually be discussing these
>> > limitations and available interventions in some upcoming ICT conference
>> at
>> > Strath University in Sept 09 and I dont want to pre-empt ;-)....
>> >
>> > walu.
>> >
>> >
>> > --- On Fri, 8/14/09, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> From: Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com>
>> >> Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] Fwd: the long fibre lie... Ndemo should
>> resign
>> >> if internet prices do not drop as he promised!!
>> >> To: "Skunkworks forum" <skunkworks at lists.my.co.ke>
>> >> Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 8:44 PM
>> >> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:38 PM,
>> >> David Kiania | Asentric Consulting
>> >> Ltd<kianiadee at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> > Set the precedence what's your solution? Am sure if
>> >> you did we'd have
>> >> > heard it by now. This thread is a knee jerk reaction
>> >> to a bad internet
>> >> > day, we all have one.
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> Simple, the entity under Ndemo's docket that grants these
>> >> cowboy
>> >> operators licenses puts it's foot down and warn that I may
>> >> revoke
>> >> licenses for operators that charge waaaay up in the sky not
>> >> just above
>> >> cost but ABOVE acceptable international pricing benchmarks.
>> >> They've
>> >> all the data they need. Imagine, for example, Safaricom on
>> >> the verge
>> >> of losing their license, price drops, drops, drops, drops,
>> >> drops, and
>> >> drops..... across board.
>> >>
>> >> Would this be acceptable to you?
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Skunkworks mailing list
>> >> Skunkworks at lists.my.co.ke
>> >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks
>> >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke
>> >> Other lists
>> >> -------------
>> >> Announce:
>> >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce
>> >> Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science
>> >> kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
>> >>
>> >
>>
> --
> Dr. Warigia Bowman
> Assistant Professor
> The Department of Public Policy Leadership
> The University of Mississippi
> 107 Odom Hall
> University, MS 38677
>
> URL: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/leadership/index.html
> PHONE: 662-915-1904
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>
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