[kictanet] Is It Time to Break Up Google?

[Ali Hussein]

@Ngigi


Interesting article. Though I think its abit shallow. To say Google
controls the Digital Ad business is to stretch the truth abit because there
are many aspects of this business not just search. And increasingly search
is being replaced by Social. As we focus on one company's dominance
(Microsoft, IBM etc) we fail to acknowledge the changing aspects of the
industry itself.

I think the major question we need to ask is this:-

Should Google, Facebook and Amazon be declared public utilities?

Is advertising as crucial as say communication via telephone, internet and
mobile money? I think not. Can we live without search and social media?
absolutely. Can we live without communication and the internet? Maybe. We
just need to back to the stone age. :-)

And closer to home should the Kenya Government declare MPesa a public
utility?

For us to answer this question we need to transport ourselves back in
history when the US Government declared AT&T a public utility. There was a
case then for 'approving' a monopoly through a series of government
regulatory actions and AT&T's acquisitive strategy. The main case was
about *INTEROPERABILITY
*(emphasis deliberate).

Is there a case now for say pushing towards MPesa being a utility? We
cannot understate the impact MPesa has on our lives. Should we then because
of this force the Utility Status on MPesa and force Safaricom to open it up
to other players?


*Ali Hussein*

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On Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 11:27 AM, Ngigi Waithaka via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Listers,
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/opinion/sunday/is-it-
> time-to-break-up-google.html?_r=0
>
> Here we go, again....
>
> It seems these *BIG* issues have been and will continue being with us for
> a long while.
>
> Before @Ali shoots back, this is a different debate from the Risk
> Management one, although they have certain areas where they intersect.
>
> I quite think the closing words are very appropriate...
>
>
> *"...Woodrow Wilson was right when he said in 1913, “If monopoly persists,
> monopoly will always sit at the helm of the government.” We ignore his
> words at our peril....*
>
> --
> *Regards,*
>
> *Wait**haka Ngigi*
> Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod
> Building
> T +254 20 525 0750 |Office Mobile: +254 716 201061 | M +254 737 811 000
> www.at.co.ke
>
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