[kictanet] State House moves in to quell mobile price wars

Thu Jun 9 22:12:47 EAT 2011

Stephen,
Even if termination rates goes to Zero, international call rates out of Kenya remains high.

It is important to know that this was not a knee jerk reaction as many may think.  The debate has been in public domain and indeed there were similar initiatives that were not challenged.  I think we applying double standards in this matter.  I will therefore not comment on this issue any further.

Regards.

Ndemo.

Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: "Stephen Mutoro" <stephen at cofek.co.ke>
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 16:34:03 
To: <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
Reply-To: stephen at cofek.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] State House moves in to quell mobile price wars

Thanks Dktr. My personal respect for you and your views notwithstanding, I beg to differ not necessarily on the suitability of the decision but the approach/process. Nothing wrong for interested parties to intervene within contexts. But lets avoid setting bad and costly precedents - through our obsession as Kenyans with shortcuts or quick fixes and selfish deals whenever it suits us.

A brief story. I arrived in the country very early today. For the 5 days or so I've been away in Dakar, Senegal, my roaming bill came to about 7K not necessarily that I was making too many or long calls but the best I cld get is Sh59 per min for receiving calls and Sh108 for calling per min. Retrieving data/emails was even higher.

In short, the gains Kenyans have made on ICT and telcos sector (through you and others) are too dear to be wished/eroded away. Cofek and I request to be understood in this perspective. Lets accord CCK the "independence" and have it as practically as possible stir away from partisan influences. Good night!
Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: bitange at jambo.co.ke
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 19:14:03 
To: <stephen at cofek.co.ke>
Cc: <bitange at jambo.co.ke>; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] State House moves in to quell mobile price wars

Stephen,
I wish you first asked what transpired before you make such remarks.  CCK
gets its policy direction from the Ministry of Information and
Communications.  The policy emanates from the political manifesto of the
ruling party.  In our current case, the harmonized manifesto.  Here we
agreed to a free market economy.  This means that any market interventions
must reflect the underlying economic policy.

When we had accellerated price decline in Uganda, Congo and other
countries, they resulted to a floor price, in other words price control. 
Had we taken that direction, we shall have undermined the underlying
economic policy.  Instead we temporarily suspended the glide path to study
the wider impact on the economy.  The CCK board arrived at that solution.

In my view you are misunderstanding the independence rule.  Central Banks
world over are independent but their decisions are based on the policy
direction of the country.  Even if you were to head this country you will
find that it is your policies that would govern the country since the buck
stops with the leadership.  It will make no sense if we have several
independent decision makers.

Different papers reported different stories but nobody has sought
clarification or offer a solution under the prevailing circumstances.

Regards

Ndemo.

> Indeed a desperate move and one that has neither moral nor legal basis.
> What a mockery of a futile attempt of by-passing regulatory regime. It is
> CCK that will be the "loser" if it cowardly allows a clear abuse of
> Section 5(b) of Info and Comms Act. Cofek will be seeking clarification
> from concerned parties. We must never allow State House to conduct sector
> regulatory matters, whether pro or anti-consumer. Rgds
> Sent from my BlackBerry®
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi at gmail.com>
> Sender: kictanet-bounces+stephen=cofek.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 12:17:55
> To: <stephen at cofek.co.ke>
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] State House moves in to quell mobile price wars
>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and
> development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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