[kictanet] Are Regulators punishing 'Dominant Positions' or rewarding mediocrity? Or is this regulatory thinking outdated?

Wed Apr 15 19:56:41 EAT 2015

Barrack

Indeed. Regulation needs to move from the days of fixed lines and telex
machines to the era of the Internet, Internet of Things, Social Media etc.

*Ali Hussein*

*Hussein & Associates*

Tel: +254 770 906375/ 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
<http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>

Blog: www.alyhussein.com

Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
organizations that I work with.

On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 6:41 PM, Barrack Otieno via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Very insightful comments Phares and Ali,i think we should focus more
> on government being an enabler. We might want to re define what
> regulating means in the context of enabling.
>
> My two cookies
>
> On 4/15/15, Phares Kariuki via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> wrote:
> > A brilliant read is "The Org". It basically covers this. When
> organisations
> > get larger, they become less nimble and more expensive to operate, which
> > invariably allows for new technology outfits to come up.
> >
> > The Taxi market was monopolised for a very long time. Uber has come to
> > change that. Cloud services are changing the way people use IT, for the
> > first time, bell weather companies like Cisco, IBM, HP and even Microsoft
> > are struggling. In the US T-Mobile is changing how the telcos work.
> >
> > So long as no undue advantage is given to any corporate, no company will
> be
> > able to have an absolute monopoly. The petroleum companies have a
> monopoly
> > for now, but at the current rate, either we'll not have a planet or that
> > business model will die a natural death (extracting and selling
> > hydrocarbons). They'd better morph into energy companies.
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 7:37 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
> > kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> >
> >> Listers
> >>
> >> Google is on the crosshairs of the European Regulator for behavior
> >> unbecoming of a Dominant Position. Reminds us of companies that were
> >> dominant and punished by Regulators the world over:-
> >>
> >> Remember Microsoft? Intel? Palm? IBM? AT&T? Standard Oil?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> http://adage.com/article/digital/google-face-eu-charges-antitrust-violations/298061/?utm_source=mediaworks&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1429654967
> >>
> >> What Regulators couldn't do the Market took care of. I have no problem
> >> with Regulation per se. What I have a problem with is this Old-School
> >> interpretation of Dominance when the world around us is shifting every
> >> second.
> >>
> >> Let's reconfigure our thinking on how we define and execute regulation
> >> lest we kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
> >>
> >> Take our local Telco space. If we consider Safaricom playing in one
> space
> >> - data and mobile money then we can easily say Yes! It is dominant. But
> >> consider this:-
> >>
> >> 1. Zuku dominates the Triple Play space. No actually, just the two play
> >> space. - Paid TV (debatable that they are dominant here with the
> >> proliferation of digital TV) and Internet at home. Strong contenders are
> >> entering the market led by Jamii and Safaricom. For some reason Zuku has
> >> decided to ignore the phone they give you with every installation.
> >>
> >> 2. Payments space. Lipa Na Mpesa, Equitel, Visa, MasterCard, PesaPal,
> >> white label products from Cellulant, Craft Silicon, Jambopay and other
> >> players scrambling to claim a share of the billions in the Payments
> >> space.
> >> So who is dominant?
> >>
> >> 3. Remittances:- this is a global $550 billion market with corridors
> >> across the world - from source markets in the GCC countries to the U.S.
> >> into India, Africa etc. Safaricom does about a billion in remittances,
> >> partnering with the likes of Western Union and every bank willing to
> jump
> >> onto the bandwagon. This is not a business that can be geo regulated in
> >> Kenya alone but needs a global mindset.
> >>
> >> Regulators (and yes this includes CA, because in my humble opinion we
> >> should be the benchmark the world looks up to since it's now not a doubt
> >> that we are Ground Zero on innovation in mobile payments) need to
> balance
> >> the need to nurture innovation and protect consumers and trust the
> market
> >> will take care of the rest.
> >>
> >> So instead of every regulator the world over scrambling to be the first
> >> to
> >> punish 'Dominant Positions' let them instead broadly define and ensure
> >> adherence to concepts like Net Neutrality, work with consumer protection
> >> agencies/organizations and embrace (really embrace)
> multi-stakeholderism.
> >>
> >> Let them do this and I have a sneaky suspicion that Wanjiku (and her
> >> equivalents) the world over will take care of the rest.
> >>
> >> *Ali Hussein*
> >> *Hussein & Associates*
> >> +254 770 906375 / 0713 601113
> >>
> >> Twitter: @AliHKassim
> >>
> >> Skype: abu-jomo
> >>
> >> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
> >> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
> >>
> >> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
> >>
> >> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
> >> what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
> >>
> >> Sent from my iPad
> >>
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> >>
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Warm Regards,
> >
> > Phares Kariuki
> >
> > *E*: pkariuki at gmail.com | *Twitter*: kaboro | *B*: http://www.angani.co
> |
> > Angani Limited
> >
>
>
> --
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +254721325277
> +254-20-2498789
> Skype: barrack.otieno
> http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/
>
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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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