[kictanet] Telcos CEOs on the spot in push to declare Safaricom dominant

Mon Jul 30 20:11:37 EAT 2018

@Walu

I was baiting you..and you fell for it.. LOL
!

Let me first address the issue of Mpesa and
the
allegations that it is a Platform. I recommend the book *Platform
Revolution
<https://www.amazon.com/Platform-Revolution-Networked-Transforming-Economyand-ebook/dp/B00ZAT8VS4>*
by Geoffrey Parker, Marshall Van Alsytne and Sangeet Paul Choudrey.

According to Tech blogger Jonathan Clarks
<http://jonathanclarks.blogspot.de/2009/06/what-is-difference-between-platform-and.html>,
“Platforms are structures that allow multiple products to be built within
the same technical framework. Companies invest in platforms in the hope
that future products can be developed faster and cheaper, than if they
built them stand-alone. Today it is much more important to think of a
platform as a business framework. By this I mean a framework that allows
multiple business models to be built and supported. For instance, Amazon is
an online retail framework. Amazon started by selling books. Over time they
have expanded to selling all sorts of other things. Apple iTunes started by
selling tracks and now uses the same framework to sell videos.”

So back to my issue of whether M-Pesa is a Platform. M-Pesa wasn't built
from the ground up to be a Platform. To claim that M-Pesa is a Platform is
like saying that a VW Kombi
<https://www.google.com/search?q=VW+KOMBI&rlz=1C5CHFA_enKE800KE800&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=oebAUZqbFmXsSM%252Ch9Cx7Tj_4hnt2M%252C_&usg=__V7SZyrLUT-w4mOWCnPSbExol-8A%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjf2O6docfcAhXCxoUKHZuTCXIQ_h0wFXoECAoQCA&biw=1280&bih=726#imgrc=oebAUZqbFmXsSM:>is
a Toyota VX  <https://www.toyota.com/landcruiser/> just because some Jua
Kali mechanic decided to put a 5.7-Liter DOHC 32-Valve V8 with Dual
Independent Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i); 381 hp @ 5600
rpm; 401 lb.-ft. @ 3600 rpm into the Kombi - #JustSaying.. :-) With all due
respect to Safaricom of course..

Platforms are an amazing thing to behold. Apple IOS is a Platform. The
Amazon Ecosystem is a Platform. Google's Android is a Platform. Facebook is
a Platform. You get my point.

We spend alot of time bashing Safaricom. And it is as it should be since
they are the Big Boys/Girls in our part of the wood
s
..But Safaricom has so many problems..I wish we can exploit them instead of
wasting so much energy on them.. The world is full of companies that
Governments were unable to break up
but the market took care of that.. The regulatory landscape is not optimal
for sure..and that can be worked on..But we also need to look
inwards..Barclays is already taking steps with Timiza, so is HF..And of
course there is Equity..The fact is this - We are all fighting for the 80%
of the 10% market Safaricom has in mobile money..#GoFigure

I agree with you that the Regulator needs to get up to speed with the new
reality. However it's not that simple. Remember the tussle between the CA
(Communications Authority) and CAK (Competitions Authority of Kenya) on the
Market Study? Add to this mix the CMA (Capital Markets Authority) and CBK
(Central Bank of Kenya) to get an idea of how tough regulation is today. At
the height of the dominance conversation last year I attempted to make a
sense of it. See link below:-

Dominance, Regulation and the New Strategic Imperatives
<https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dominance-regulation-new-strategic-imperatives-ali-hussein-kassim/>

Here's a fact that most of us don't want to come to terms with. As untidy
as free markets are, they are more efficient than Governments. Chairman
William Kisang of the House Committee on Communication, Information and
Innovation is my hero for seeing off this continuous rant on Dominance. Now
he must take it one step further and create a Super Regulator (It can be
that the different regulators and arms of government create a working
committee that meets regularly and share notes to ensure they are on the
same page when it comes to Innovation and New Business Models that
transcend industries.

We must move forward. Safaricom's 'dominance' will be taken care of by the
Market. With a little help from a forward looking regulator of course..I'm
willing to bet my next year's salary on it. :-)

Regards

*Ali Hussein*
*Principal*
*AHK & Associates*
+254 0713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a
habit."  ~ Aristotle

Sent from my iPad

On 30 Jul 2018, at 6:35 PM, Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:

@Ali, am with Eng Kariuki on this one ;-)

Indeed we are in the age of platforms (read MPESA as an example).  And yes
we can't blame Safcom for milking MPESA to the hilt (eg. most government
service mobile money payments have a preferred providers ;-).

I would rather blame the regulator for not seeing this coming, and when
they finally saw it, they dilly dallied to intervene (remember 2year market
study?)  Furthermore, previous thinking that platforms are sacred corporate
jewels not to be touched or  that  all markets will eventually self-correct
have been proved wrong elsewhere with FB, Google, etc coming under heavy
'regulatory fire' in the recent past.

I dont claim to have the answer to Safcom dominance, but I can claim very
strongly that the market forces will never self-correct the dominant
position that Safcom continues to enjoy.

Is dominance  a good thing? Yes, for Safcom.  Is it a bad thing?  Yes, for
a country that may realize that they cannot transmit election results
simply because the competing providers dont have presence in some areas
under their zones. Or that you can't access internet or send mobile money
coz Safcom network sneezed for an hour or two as it happened a week ago.

I have said this before, the dominance conversation must be rise above
competition issues and begin to be interrogated at the level of national
security.  If Safcom beats competition to pulp, it is good for its
shareholders (me with my very small shares  included), BUT it is bad thing
for the country that may discover they have no commensurate alternatives.

That said, I dont believe baby sitting competition to beat Safcom is the
answer either.

Only a new innovation, perhaps the next 'MPESA on a Blockchain' sort of
thing will be able to give  Safcom the challenge it deserves.

walu.

On Monday, July 30, 2018, 6:00:10 PM GMT+3, Admin CampusCiti via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

John

Fortunately I’m not a graduate of Telecommunications Law.. So I can see
clearly.. #JustSaying..

I have always advocated for a review of the Framework on competition in not
just the Telco sector but most sectors. The Age of Platforms Is here my
brother. And we ignore it or focus on old school models of competition at
our own risk. The Government is a very inefficient way to correct market
conditions. Look at what is happening the world over.

Why don’t we go ahead and also declare Uber dominant? Let’s engage on this
issue and not shoot from the hip. Chairman Kisang is my hero. He must have
been smoking the right thing that morning. :-)

*Ali Hussein*

+254 0713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
<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 30 Jul 2018, at 5:37 PM, John Kariuki via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Listers, Ali.
It is a fact that  "In certain telecommunications market segments in Kenya,
SAFARICOM is dominant. Any graduate of telecommunications law will confirm
that. It has nothing to do with punishing success or innovation. It is a
matter of telecommunications and competition laws. If it was in UK or EU I
have no doubt that the issue would not have dragged this long. Remember we
also have the 'small problem' of Data Protection which has dragged for at
least 10 years. Just to repeat what one consultant told my then bosses many
years ago and I quote  "The fact that you refuse to see a problem does not
mean that it does not exist". If only we had listened!

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
<https://go.onelink.me/107872968?pid=InProduct&c=Global_Internal_YGrowth_AndroidEmailSig__AndroidUsers&af_wl=ym&af_sub1=Internal&af_sub2=Global_YGrowth&af_sub3=EmailSignature>

On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 14:37, Barrack Otieno via kictanet
<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
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