[kictanet] Pondering mobile competition

Wed Aug 25 18:26:00 EAT 2010

I just remembered( don't forget I'm typing this from some street
corner), suppose Safaricom had lowered it's tarrif before Zain, or
used Zain's package, what wod be the take? Would we be talking of the
"good news" that has finally set?

Just curious.

On 25/08/2010, Solomon Mburu Kamau <solo.mburu at gmail.com> wrote:
> Listrers,
> (I'm typing this from a street corner!)
>
> There's a lot of pessimism towards Zain's new tarrif owing to the fact
> that, maybe, "most" people are in Safaricom.
> It's quiet illogical even for some non-market analysts, to give their
> negative impression of Zain/Bharti tarrif owing to the fact that they
> might be shareholders of Safcom.
> I'd rather, we don't take sides and let the best team win - as long
> the consumer is - insttead of attacking an investment.
>
> My little thoughts.
>
> On 25/08/2010, Andrea Bohnstedt <andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>
> wrote:
>> Cool!
>>
>> On 25 August 2010 17:56, Dennis Kipruto <rutodenis at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Andrea,
>>>
>>> On monday I bought a zain sim card and I wasn't allowed to pick my line
>>> before I had given a copy Of my ID card.all the street vendors have been
>>> given a booklet containing all the details that need to registered by
>>> respective telcos.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Dennis Kipruto.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Aug 25, 2010, at 4:41 PM, Andrea Bohnstedt <
>>> andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm particularly curious if, in this whole feeding frenzy, Zain are
>>> actually urging people to register, and also whether CCK will really
>>> treat
>>> end-August as the cut-off date and, well, cut everyone unregistered off.
>>> It'd be interesting to hear from both organisations.
>>>
>>> I'm still not sure whether my registrations have actually entered the
>>> system, never mind whether the whole exercise made any sense since I'm
>>> now
>>> convinced that I could have registered as Elton John. Or even as Michael
>>> Jackson in his latter pale days:
>>>
>>>
>>> <http://andreabohnstedt.blogspot.com/2010/07/anecdotal-evicence-sim-card.html>
>>> http://andreabohnstedt.blogspot.com/2010/07/anecdotal-evicence-sim-card.html
>>>
>>> On 25 August 2010 16:32, <
>>> <Francis.Hook at gmail.com>Francis.Hook at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> It would be interesting to see what impact SIM registration has on
>>>> total
>>>> subscriber numbers across all networks. In RSA, Vodacom alone shed one
>>>> million subscribers when SIM registration was implemented. With the
>>>> multi
>>>> SIM card population we have (Yu, Zain, Orange in the wallet and
>>>> Safaricom
>>>> in
>>>> the phone...or sthg like that...or two lines on one network obtained
>>>> from
>>>> handset offers etc), subscribers may be compelled to decide who is
>>>> their
>>>> "true love"....and now with the tariff wars raging....and with MNP in
>>>> the
>>>> vicinity push WILL come to shove.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Aug 25, 2010 2:41pm, Walubengo J < <jwalu at yahoo.com>jwalu at yahoo.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> > Andrea,
>>>> >
>>>> > yes, indeed these are interesting times. but not for me, at least not
>>>> yet.
>>>> >
>>>> > The high costs of voice communications have for a very longtime
>>>> socialized me into the (peculiar?) habit of NOT talking. I have grown
>>>> used
>>>> to alternative means of communication and just feel too old to suddenly
>>>> start yapping. So of what use is 20bob, 8bob, 3bob, 2bob or even 1bob
>>>> per
>>>> minute voice call if I rarely talk anyway ;-)
>>>> >
>>>> > My prayer is that these price wars will eventually move over from the
>>>> Voice to Data (internet) markets.  That will be the day I will really
>>>> get
>>>> excited...
>>>> >
>>>> > walu.
>>>> > nb: me-still-thinks Zain will not cause any significant dent on
>>>> > Safcom
>>>> 80% existing market share but shall instead gain 80% of all the NEW
>>>> subscribers over the next couple of months...but perharps am just being
>>>> biased since am told the Zain new owners
>>>> > have the money to sustain "loses" for longer periods of time(even
>>>> > 5yrs)
>>>> in order to cause a serious dent on the market leader's position. May
>>>> the
>>>> best man and woman win.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > --- On Tue, 8/24/10, Andrea Bohnstedt
>>>> <andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> > From: Andrea Bohnstedt <andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>
>>>> andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>
>>>> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Pondering mobile competition
>>>> > To: <jwalu at yahoo.com>jwalu at yahoo.com
>>>> > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>>> > Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 4:38 PM
>>>> >
>>>> > The 'abuse' complaint was silly, I think: Zain's network was
>>>> > congested
>>>> from day one of their tariff launch. I'm sure, very very sure, that
>>>> telecoms
>>>> professionals at both Zain and Bharti are, well, professional enough to
>>>> anticipate the need to increase network capacity if
>>>> > they launch such an aggressive tariff.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > You've seen the fun little leaked exchange between Rene Meza and
>>>> > Michael
>>>> Joseph - Zain approached Safaricom in the evening asking for capacity
>>>> on
>>>> the
>>>> Safaricom-owned link, and Joseph promised to look into this in the
>>>> morning.
>>>> The interconnection agreement between both companies states that this
>>>> protocol can take up to seven days, as far as I understand.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> <http://www.ratio-magazine.com/201008203586/Kenya/News-Analysis-Telecoms-Price-Wars-Gone-Dirty.html>
>>>> http://www.ratio-magazine.com/201008203586/Kenya/News-Analysis-Telecoms-Price-Wars-Gone-Dirty.html
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Either they could have just increased capacity before the launch, or,
>>>> > if
>>>> they were worried about alerting Safaricom to this, then just suck up
>>>> and
>>>> tell customers that the network will be congested for another seven
>>>> days.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > So for Zain to come out the next morning and shout about abuse is
>>>> > dishonest and a cheap marketing ploy that I think they really don't
>>>> > need.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > I'm a happy capitalist. Competition is a good thing, in Kenya as
>>>> elsewhere. So I'd like them to compete on the strength of their
>>>> services
>>>> and
>>>> concepts, not by overnight accusations of 'abuse'.
>>>> >
>>>> > Mind you, if Zain kill of Orange and Essar, we'll have a bit less
>>>> competition in terms of numbers, but hey ... :)
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Happy phone calls,
>>>> > Andrea
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > On 24 August 2010 14:34, Emmanuel Khisa <oloo.khisa at googlemail.com>
>>>> oloo.khisa at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Hi Andreas,
>>>> >
>>>> > You have spoken for me on this one...I have also wondered since
>>>> zain/bharti lodged their complaint with CCK over clogged network, were
>>>> they
>>>> just playing spoilt kid or do they have a valid claim? My opinion is
>>>> that
>>>> since they have experienced an unanticipated rise in subscribers they
>>>> didnt
>>>> have the network infrastructure to support these calls and so quickly
>>>> blame
>>>> the rival and make them look bad. But then again maybe they have a
>>>> valid
>>>> case against the boys in green.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Nonetheless the winner here is the consumer. Shall we safely say that
>>>> > we
>>>> have entered the third mobile revolution.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 1:56 PM, Andrea Bohnstedt
>>>> <andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > I'm wondering:
>>>> >
>>>> > Will CCK strictly enforce the cut-off deadline for unregistered SIM
>>>> cards at the end of August? Are Zain making sure that everyone picking
>>>> up
>>>> a
>>>> new line also register them immediately?
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > If price war is Zain's strategy, will they have enough money left to
>>>> invest in infrastructure and customer service once their subscriber
>>>> numbers
>>>> go up significantly? Will they be able to scale up both systems quickly
>>>> enough?
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Telkom Orange are cited in the media as complaining that the
>>>> interconnect rate also applies to their fixed line service and that
>>>> this
>>>> is
>>>> not even covering their costs
>>>> (<http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Telkom%20unhappy%20with%20interlink%20fee/-/1006/995372/-/o9pm5az/-/>
>>>> http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Telkom%20unhappy%20with%20interlink%20fee/-/1006/995372/-/o9pm5az/-/).
>>>> I wonder if the two big ones having it out won't kill the two small
>>>> ones
>>>> first?
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Bharti/Zain have also launched free sms alongside lower on and
>>>> > off-net
>>>> calling rates and free minutes in Nigeria:
>>>> <http://telecomyatra.afaqs.com/news/?sid=1652_Bharti+subsidiary+Zain+introduces+free+SMS+in+Nigeria>
>>>> http://telecomyatra.afaqs.com/news/?sid=1652_Bharti+subsidiary+Zain+introduces+free+SMS+in+Nigeria
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Happy afternoon,
>>>> > Andrea
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > _______________________________________________
>>>> >
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>>>> >
>>>> > <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>>>> >
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>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > This message was sent to: <oloo.khisa at gmail.com>oloo.khisa at gmail.com
>>>> >
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>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > --
>>>> > Andrea Bohnstedt
>>>> > Publisher
>>>> > +254 720 960 322
>>>> > <http://www.ratio-magazine.com>www.ratio-magazine.com
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>>>> >
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>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Andrea Bohnstedt
>>> Publisher
>>> +254 720 960 322
>>> <http://www.ratio-magazine.com>www.ratio-magazine.com
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Andrea Bohnstedt
>> Publisher
>> +254 720 960 322
>> www.ratio-magazine.com
>>
>
>
> --
> *Solomon Mbũrũ Kamau*
>
> *****************************************************
> *Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the
> same way to the side of a hill!*
>
> AND
>
> *It is better to die in dignity than in the ignominy of ambiguous
> generosity! *
>
> http://smiley2.wordpress.com
> http://mburu.sikika.co.ke
>

-- 
*Solomon Mbũrũ Kamau*

*****************************************************
*Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the
same way to the side of a hill!*

AND

*It is better to die in dignity than in the ignominy of ambiguous
generosity! *

http://smiley2.wordpress.com
http://mburu.sikika.co.ke