[kictanet] [isoc_ke] Should Safaricom be broken up as 'recommended' by Airtel?

Fri Feb 20 21:02:03 EAT 2015

@Wali

That's my point exactly. We need to move this country away from vested interests and truly embrace National Interest. 

Interoperability is the answer and I hope the policy makers can push this through. 

Hope Eng. Rege is somewhere listening. (Or lurking) :) 

Ali Hussein

+254 770 906375 / 0713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
Blog: www.alyhussein.com

"I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein

Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 20, 2015, at 5:30 PM, Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> @ Ali,
> 
> I think I am a social democrat aka "moderate capitalist" that is make money yes, but dont exploit the masses. Last time I argued this case Bob C thought I was a communist :-)
> 
> Anyway, your solution is perfect and yes, we dont need to break up Safcom as a company (it's not in my interest though obviously it is in Airtel's and other competitors :)
> 
> MPESA interoperability (publicly available APIs - for the geeks) is the "simple" answer. But try to approach that territory and you will start another war and with the Broadcasting war still simmering, I doubt that the regulator/ministry has the resources to fight on these two front simuoultaneously. 
> 
> Safcom can and will chew them faster than the broadcasters are attempting to do. Think Equity and their thin-sim card strategy(read interoperability attempt) and how far they went  :-)
> 
> walu.
> 
> 
> 
> From: Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke>
> To: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
> Sent: Friday, February 20, 2015 4:37 PM
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] [isoc_ke] Should Safaricom be broken up as 'recommended' by Airtel?
> 
> Walu
> 
> Do you have some socialist leanings? :)
> 
> There is a simple solution to dealing with the Mpesa dominance issue. Drive policy to ENFORCE interoperability. You kill that dependency very quickly.
> 
> Rwanda has done it successfully. Why can't we? after all it's a matter of national security.
> 
> With interoperability I can switch seamlessly within the financial sector infrastructure without worrying. The government/Airtel/Orange/Kenya Bankers then drives awareness ala Digital Migration. :)
> 
> It's not rocket science and it doesn't require any breakup. :)
> 
> Ali Hussein
> 
> +254 770 906375 / 0713 601113
> 
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
> Skype: abu-jomo
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
> 
> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 20, 2015, at 3:45 PM, Walubengo J via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>> 
>> @Mwendwa - u mention some 2010 regulations on competition published by the Ministry of ICT.  Not seen these regulations but I would be worried that the ministry of ICT is now publishing regulation - something that is the mandate of the Regulator.  Ministry should stick to policy.  
>> 
>> Either way, the Law (as in the Constitution and the Acts are superior to the Regulations and so in case of conflict I would expect the latter to override)
>> 
>> As for breaking up Safcom, I have always proposed we should given its giant state - even the might of MTN, Equity, Airtel combined will barely scratch its dominant position.  The question is not so much that they have "earned" this position through hard work and innovation, the question is about creating backup positions for ourselves as a country.  
>> 
>> Think about it, if MPESA broke down today for more than 2hrs today, we might have street riots. This is good for Safaricom but not good for Kenyan stability -unless and until we have a reliable alternative of MPESA with similar magnitude we are literally a social bomb waiting to be triggered.  Indeed if I was a foreign army wishing to attack Kenya, I will not target the barracks or statehouse, I will target MPESA.
>> 
>> Our success is has become our biggest liability and we must face that fact and begin to think around it constructively. Airtel is secondary in this conversation if you asked me. We should have had  it on own volition.
>> 
>> walu.
>> 
>> From: Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> To: jwalu at yahoo.com 
>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 5:04 PM
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] [isoc_ke] Should Safaricom be broken up as	'recommended' by Airtel?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 18 February 2015 at 15:22, WANGARI KABIRU via isoc <isoc at lists.my.co.ke> wrote:
>> “The Kenya Information and Communications Act section 84W gives the Communications Authority of Kenya powers to declare a service provider to be dominant if their market share is at least 50 per cent of the relevant gross market segment,” Mr Matiang’i noted. 
>> 
>> Wangare, you have murdered the law, and read it out of context. 
>> 
>> "The current regulation on competition, published by the ICT ministry in 2010, equates dominance to abuse of the market. The regulator says this makes it difficult to declare a licensee dominant considering that the threshold of proof of abuse is very high."
>> 
>> ______________________
>> Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
>> 
>> "There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk on higher ground in that lifetime." - Maxwell Anderson
>> 
>> 
>> 
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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.
>> 
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