[kictanet] Are we letting the PS get away with this too?

[Adam Peake]

Last year in India I met an IT professor, Ashok Jhunjhunwala. 
Professor at IIT Madras.  He's on the Board of Tata Communications, 
govt advisor, and on and on.  Brilliant man, one of the pioneers of 
the Indian ICT sector. Couple of lines from my notes summarizing his 
comments:

"how can you make money at 1 cent/minute?  Indian mobile operators 
can: that is the Indian market.  And once you can provide services at 
1 cent/minute, of course you will go to markets where the cost is 10 
cents/minute and kill them.  This can be applied to many areas."

He wasn't just talking about India's mobile market, but that was the 
example.  Indian businesses cut costs to the bone while also 
providing quality.  It's how they have been so successful. He was 
suggesting that if Indian business can transfer these business 
practises/models to other markets they'll clean up.

I don't know how India's mobile prices compare KES to rupee, might be 
worth someone from CCK or the PS' office taking a look at Indian 
mobile market to see what Airtel's and other operators prices and 
services are like. My guess is Airtel may be dropping prices to 
levels similar to those it offers in India. Perhaps for the moment 
they are burning money to pick up subscribers, but in the longer term 
they might really know how to offer service at that price and still 
make profit.

Adam