[kictanet] COMPETITION AUTHORITY SHOULD DISBAND THIS CARTEL OF CITIZEN, NTV & KTN

Tue Jan 6 12:19:18 EAT 2015

http://nairobitech.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-real-reason-media-owners-oppose.html

In any other country what is happening with digital migration in this
country would have seen criminal charges brought up against the three media
houses; Royal Media, NTV and KTN for their continued abuse of their market
power to frustrate digital migration in this country.

Instead what we are seeing is an endorsement of their cartel like behaviour
both by the regulators and the courts.

Sobering numbers: According to an article in The East African, a sister
publication to NTV, the three media houses under a consortium they are
calling Africa Digital Network, control 90 per cent of the media in the
country consisting of "*87 per cent market share in TV*, 80 per cent in
radio and 98 per cent in print."

The article suggests the media houses are loathe to give up any of this
dominance and the advertising billions they command and have instead sought
protracted court battles to buy themselves time to put in place
infrastructure and buy equipment to digitally migrate.

This alone should have the regulators jumping into the fray.

The Kenya Communications Amendment Act for example bars anti-competitive
practices amongst licensees of the Communications Authority particularly
Section 84 (S) which has such warnings as

*(a) any abuse by an licensee, either*
*independently or with others, of a*
*dominant position which unfairly •*
*excludes or limits competition between*
*such operator and any other party;*
*(b) entering any agreement or engaging in*
*any concerted practice with any other*
*party, which unfairly prevents, restricts or*
*distorts competition or which;*
*(i) directly or indirectly fix purchase or*
*selling prices or any other trading*
*conditions; **limit or control production,*
*markets, technical development or*
*investment;*

By this snapshot alone, the CAK cannot claim to be doing its job of
ensuring fair competitition when a dominant position by a cartel of 3
controlling 90 per cent of the market not only continually frustrates the
technical development or investment in digital migration but also unfairly
abuses its position to exclude or limit competition.

The marketplace is not the preserve of an exclusive cartel, it is a place
where players should enter and leave according to market dynamics.

The law cannot be used to protect the dominant position of three players to
the exclusion of hundreds of new investors, this is precisely why fair
competition laws exist.

Even the consortium going by the name ADN should be quickly outlawed by the
Competition Authority of Kenya.

Where else in the world would the three dominant players in an industry be
handed a government license to entrench that position?

In the US, such an arrangement in the oil and steel industries saw the
enactment of legislation that broke up Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the
grandparent of today's ExxonMobil.

Likewise AT&T was split up into the 7 baby bells (regional telephone
companies) such as Pacific Bell, Bell Atlantic, Bell South etc with Ma Bell
being left to do long distance calls only.

The Competition Authority and the Communications Authority should bar this
consortium from conducting business as presently constituted or face legal
action for dereliction of duty by not only encouraging but also fostering
monopolistic cartels in the country.

On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 3:13 PM, Mark Mwangi via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Well as of this afternoon I still receive Analogue signals for NTV, KTN,
> Citizen, QTV etc in Westlands. Was the switch off really done?
>
> On Thu, Jan 1, 2015 at 11:47 PM, Baiju Shah via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> The train had left in terms of signal distribution. Let's not forget the
>> media house together have a very number of viewers who are consuming their
>> content and also depend information from these channels.
>> The issue is that on signal distribution how was a large chunk given away
>> to a foreign company as this is a channel that is critical for the
>> communications between the government and the public like wise radio.
>> Furthermore if these 3 companies close today how many jobs will be lost
>> needs also to be taken into account not even considering the lose of
>> advertisement based roles ie productions, media preparations etc.
>> Finally, the quality of news broadcast to be left to tabloid journalists,
>> are we really looking at the past? Plus shipping of our content consumption
>> dollar to foreign content productions, I am not sure that a CNN or BBC will
>> be able to provide a comprehensive coverage of the local news.
>> I believe that they are fighting to keep their businesses relevant,
>> unfortunately the CAK and Media Owners seem to have different ideas and
>> agendas.
>> Again, to be critical of the whole process, definitive guidelines should
>> have been very clear to all.
>> It further seems that the media owners have had enough time pull together
>> the required infrastructure as they stated in one of their arguments with
>> the court of large investment they have already made therefore it will not
>> take long to light up the broadcast network.
>>
>> My 2.cents worth
>>
>> Happy New Year 2015 and enjoy the digital broadcast on your TV's
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Baiju Shah
>>
>> On 1 Jan 2015 22:56, "Grace Githaiga via kictanet" <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>> >
>> > I think the matter is being dragged unnecessarily and I have been
>> wondering if there will be a time when these media houses will feel 'ready'
>> to migrate. Yawn!
>> >
>> > Happy 2015 Listers!
>> >
>> > ________________________________
>> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] CITIZEN, NTV, KTN LAST MINUTE COURT APPLICATION
>> FAILS TO STOP ANALOGUE SWITCHOFF
>> > From: ali at hussein.me.ke
>> > Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2015 18:55:59 +0300
>> > To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com; kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>> >
>> >
>> > Grace and all
>> >
>> > These shenanigans by the media houses should stop.
>> >
>> > That train left the station long time. As the CA SMS messages say:-
>> >
>> > Tumetoka Analogue, Tunaenda Digital.
>> >
>> > Let them get on with the Programme (Pun intended).
>> >
>> > 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 Jan 1, 2015, at 3:13 AM, Grace Githaiga via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>> >
>> >> @James
>> >> The Standard reported that the three Media houses would not be
>> affected by the switch off, and that the Supreme Court will issue
>> directives on the matter on Monday next week.
>> >> Read on:
>> http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000146378/supreme-court-suspends-kenya-s-analogue-tv-switch-off?pageNo=2
>> >>
>> >> ________________________________
>> >> Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:01:41 +0300
>> >> Subject: CITIZEN, NTV, KTN LAST MINUTE COURT APPLICATION FAILS TO STOP
>> ANALOGUE SWITCHOFF
>> >> From: jgmbugua at gmail.com
>> >> To: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke; ggithaiga at hotmail.com
>> >>
>> >> Listers,
>> >>
>> >> Looks like Media owners might have lost this one for good.
>> >>
>> >> The only issue was whether the interpretation to continue with digital
>> migration while saying licenses will not be cancelled can be construed as
>> cancelling the license to broadcast in Nairobi.
>> >>
>> >> CITIZEN, NTV, KTN LAST MINUTE COURT APPLICATION FAILS TO STOP ANALOGUE
>> SWITCHOFF
>> >>
>> >> Analogue TV signals in Nairobi and its environs will be switched off
>> tonight at 11:59PM or after the Presidential New Year address industry
>> regulator Communications Authority has vowed.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> This is despite a court application by the three media houses of Royal
>> Media (Citizen), NMG (NTV) and Standard Group (KTN) to allow them to keep
>> broadcasting in analogue until they have their infrastructure in place.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> But tough talking Ministry of Information and CAK officials said in a
>> press conference that the switch off timetable as issued in a gazette
>> notice by Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, remains in place.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Despite obtaining orders from the Supreme Court Vice President Kalpana
>> Rawal certifying their application as urgent and maintaining status quo
>> until the hearing set for January 5, Lawyer Wambua Kilonzo acting for CAK
>> and Mr. Mwangi from the Attorney General's office, said their
>> interpretation of the court orders was that the digital migration process
>> was not stopped.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "I have advised CAK not to cancel the licenses of the media owners but
>> this does not stop the digital migration process from going on," Kilonzo
>> said.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Kilonzo in a position supported by the AG's counsel, said the Supreme
>> Court did not grant orders to prayer number 2 of the media houses for the
>> digital migration process to be stopped in the meantime.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> According to CAK Consumer and Public Affairs director Mutua Muthusi,
>> the channels set for switch off tonight include:
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Citizen (Channels 34, 39)
>> >>
>> >> KTN 59
>> >>
>> >> KBC 23
>> >>
>> >> K24 26
>> >>
>> >> GBS 47
>> >>
>> >> NTV 42
>> >>
>> >> QTV 12
>> >>
>> >> Family 9
>> >>
>> >> ETV 62
>> >>
>> >> KIss TV (Channel 55)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Muthusi said Kenyans are ready to migrate and cited sales figures of
>> set top boxes which have ballooned in the last month.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "STB sales have more than doubled in the month of December," he said
>> adding that this trend was taking place even outside Nairobi.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> http://nairobitech.blogspot.com/2014/12/citizen-ntv-ktn-last-minute-court.html
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
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>> >>
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>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
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>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Mark Mwangi
>
> markmwangi.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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