[kictanet] Battle for African Internet Users Sparks fears

[Mwendwa Kivuva]

Thanks Ali.
CA has no position on this. Although I am not authorised to speak on their
behalf :)

Look, this is a classical Net Neutrality violation. "Treating all traffic
equally". What happens to competitors of Facebook,  Twitter, Wikipedia ?
This is a sure way of killing competition. Airtel has a service Where you
can access Facebook for free. Same as Orange with Wikipedia some years
back. The data carrier is paid by the content provider to give preferential
treatment to their traffic.

Now, if I'm seated in one of the innovation hubs in Kenya,  say C4DLAB, and
I have a new startup competing in the same space as Twitter or Facebook,
how will I compete in such a skewed environment?



On Wednesday, 25 March 2015, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Listers
>
> Interesting discussion going on about zero rating certain services within
> a walled Facebook/Google garden. I think some telcos are running campaigns
> where after your internet bundles are exhausted you can still use Facebook
> or  Google Apps.
>
> For more:-
>
> http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/24/us-africa-internet-idUSKBN0MK10F20150324
>
> It's easy to applaud search measures to offer 'free' connectivity. However
> some markets have already outlawed such practices as anti-competitive and
> designed to lure users to certain services at the detriment of others
> who don't have the deep pockets of the Multi-Nationals.
>
> It's all about eyeballs. which drive advertising.
>
> What's the CA's position on this practice?
>
> *Ali Hussein*
>
>
>
>
>
> 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.
>


-- 
______________________
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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