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

Tue Jul 31 14:38:21 EAT 2018

Hello Listers,

I would like the Telcos to have kid-friendly dedicated sims. Why do I say so?

Before we transition from SIM, the SIM seems to be the only safe means we can reach the many children who cannot access internet.

There are many learning programs being offered by SMS e.g. M-SHULE. To protect the children from predators e.g. Betting companies, the telcos themselves and even fintech shylocks from push ads to the children's phones, there need to be regulation to bar any company from pushing Any unsolicited ads to registered child's phone.

I need tech advise on how to push this ahead.

Regards,
Boniface Machuki

-----Original Message-----
From: "Ali Hussein via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: ‎7/‎31/‎2018 1:41 PM
To: "machukib at gmail.com" <machukib at gmail.com>
Cc: "Ali Hussein" <ali at hussein.me.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Telcos CEOs on the spot in push to declare Safaricomdominant

@GB 

Good points you raise. I doubt the Innovation Team at Safaricom is sleeping on the job. 

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 31 Jul 2018, at 11:13 AM, Grace Bomu via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Ali,
The important point would be to know what happens after declaration of dominance. Would Safaricom business decisions be subject to scrutiny? How much further can they integrate business lines? What parts of their business would have to be open to competitors beyond what has already been opened? 

As we are debating, I am certain that Safaricom is already investing in research for future products/services. Soon we'll be debating platform neutrality in the same way others speak of net neutrality...

Il martedì 31 luglio 2018, WANGARI KABIRU via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> ha scritto:

https://www.wired.com/2017/05/microsoft-right-need-digital-geneva-convention/

We have shared this piece here before. Until that day when the citizen becomes the focus. 
Business - Citizenry - Government.

We need to move the nation as a WHOLE from food and some grains of food for others on the plate to nutritious meals --- digitally.

This raises the spotlight on the role of the Consumer Organisations. Whose side are they on? While citizens locally may not imagine they have the integrity or relationship to be a demand of them as they hardly engage, perhaps dominated or not switched or not having adequate lobby space and budgets, however as long as they exist, they have a mandate. An empowered consumer is power to sort out the others such that the other players (business and government) become enablers and not the focus. It also calls for a long-term outlook. I see their role becoming stronger.

"...Of Microsoft's three proposals to foster international collaboration, its Tech Accord may resonate best with the public. Trust will be critical for convincing citizens that new accords protect them...."

Microsoft Is Right: We Need a Digital Geneva Convention | WIRED

"... As a professor of history, I've spent years looking at these types of agreements, including reams of documents on esoteric fights over now-redundant technologies. Without boring WIRED readers with the minutiae, let me suggest two important lessons from the details of the past. First, governments have only ever agreed successfully to technical standards, not to standards regulating content. Second, voluntary agreements by communications technology companies have been vital for protecting citizens...."

On Jul 30, 2018 20:46, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Geoffrey

We are in agreement that Regulator needs to act. How is the issue. Dominance. I don't buy that story. We can agree to disagree.. :-)

Ali Hussein
Principal
AHK & Associates

Tel: +254 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim

13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,
Chiromo Road, Westlands,
Nairobi, Kenya.

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. 

On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 8:39 PM, Geoffrey Gitau via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

@Ali
Whereas I agree that market driven equilibrium is the ideal, markets at times suffer imperfections. This is where a regulator comes to affirm some intermediate intervention. We as techo experts for a fact are not experts in this. Economist must come in to evaluate options and outcomes and not a knee jack reaction. The objective of dominance correction intervention is to ensure an upstanding (read up walking) sector. See it like someone with two legs if one leg sucks out over 50% strength disequilibrium occurs and walking is by limping or artificial support. That's how collectively all the competitors of Safaricom are - limping and on stilts. The regulator is obligated to act and no excuse. The question is how and not whether.

Rgds

Dr Kamau
ICT entrepreneurship expert

On Mon, 30 Jul 2018, 20:13 Ali Hussein via kictanet, <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

@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 by Geoffrey Parker, Marshall Van Alsytne and Sangeet Paul Choudrey. 

According to Tech blogger Jonathan Clarks, “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 is a Toyota VX  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 upbut 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 

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. :-)

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