[kictanet] Yu acquisition proposal to regulator

Mon Mar 10 10:00:45 EAT 2014

Interesting thread, my view however is that given Safaricoms portion of the
addressable market we have an effective monopoly. CCK have not been tough
enough on controlling the significant market power that big green yields
and this has led to the demise and poor health of their so called
competitors.

Why should we be discussing MVNOs now, when this is a lifeline that could
have been thrown to the ailing telcos several years ago? IMHO we should
have had MVNOS licensing introduced 10+ years ago.

Now we have too little, too late...

On Thursday, March 6, 2014, John Kariuki <ngethe.kariuki2007 at yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

> Walu,Listers,
>
> The primary  issue here is one of "merger" which is well defined in the
> Competition Act,Cap504,Laws of Kenya whose primary role is to promote and
> safeguard competition...etc etc.
> .It is a telecommunications issue on secondary basis and CAK will have
> some role to play.
> In some countries, they call it "concurrent jurisdiction" and clearly
> define the relationship between the regulators.It does not seem so in Kenya
> and the real  legal muscle may  well lie with the Competition Authority .
>
> John Kariuki
>
>
>
>   On Tuesday, 4 March 2014, 14:52, Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','jwalu at yahoo.com');>>
> wrote:
>  @Ali,
>
> I think you are refusing to see  the efficacy of MPESA in the Safaricom
> ecosystem. Whereas Voice still contributes their largest profit
> percentages, this voice market is glued  together around the MPESA product.
>
> Think Microsoft of the last decade.  Why was their applications so
> successful (MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-Exchange, etc)?  Because they were build
> around their fairly universal and monopolistic Operating System
> (MS-Windows).  In todays world of tablets and Smartphones and
> CloudComputing,  the Operating system of choice has changed (from Microsoft
> to Android,  iOS and CloudServices i.e. TCP/IP).
>
> Suddenly Microsoft finds itself exposed on their product lines (Word,
> Excel, etc) because they have lost the monopoly of the Operating System.
> Same thing with Safcom.  You expose MPESA to real competition, you break
> their stronghold on the Voice and other data services.  That is what  I
> blogged about @http://tiny.cc/3o36bx (thnx GG for sharing :-)
>
> Safaricom is clever (that is why they are no. 1)  and one can see from
> their recent industry moves that they are reacting appropriately.  What I
> dont know is if CCK can also their overall game plan and what it means for
> the industry. Sorry, let me rephrase that - I think CCK can also see the
> Safaricom game plan, but I am still not sure they have the "oomph" to
> intervene one way or the other.
>
> At this point in time, the game has moved from being "technical", gone
> through being "economical" and we are now at the stage where the big
> boys(where are the girls :-() in politics are receiving calls from
> interested parties on which way the game should end. I dont have moles way
> up there but ladies and gentlemen this discussion (Yu acquisition) must now
> at a the Politcal layer.
>
> You and I can only wait and see - and run to court if we feel aggrieved by
> the final decisions taken.
>
> walu.
> --------------------------------------------
> On Tue, 3/4/14, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Yu acquisition proposal to regulator
> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 1:42 PM
>
> Edith
> +1.
> Mark, sometimes regulatory action is used as a
> weapon when one has been unable to compete. My take is that
> Mpesa isn't yet the bread and butter of Safaricom. The
> greatest value it has is in its network effect. I suspect
> that Safaricom is already on the hunt for the next big
> thing. They are building out WiMAX networks, engaging
> businesses for computing needs etc. This boring stuff is
> where the money is.
> My take? CAK (CCK) needs to stand down on this
> one and let the market take its course. After all what else
> does the competition need to be done for them to compete
> with Safaricom? Share out subscribers through legislation? I
> think this isn't a perfect market but the regulator here
> is doing an ok job..
>
> Ali Hussein
> +254 0770
> 906375 / 0713 601113
> "I fear the day technology will
> surpass human interaction. The world will have a generation
> of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
> Sent from my iPad
> On Mar 4, 2014, at 12:12 PM, Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.ca>
> wrote:
>
> Mark and
> Listers,
>
> If I were Safaricom, I would do exactly what they are
> doing and MORE! That is the nature of competition!
> But if the consumer behaved differently.....aka
> "rational consumer behaviour"......would the
> competition hold? ....I dont think for long!
>
> Edith
> ________________________________________
> From: Mark Mwangi [
>
>
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> 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.
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