[kictanet] Battle for African Internet Users Sparks fears

[Ali Hussein]

Mwendwa

Exactly. 

Ali Hussein

+254 770 906375 / 0713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: 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

> On Mar 25, 2015, at 1:59 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva <Kivuva at transworldafrica.com> wrote:
> 
> 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
>> 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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