[kictanet] [Your thoughts on local Media coverage of Safaricom's massive downtime?] Concentration risks

Sun Nov 11 20:11:22 EAT 2018

On dadaab community networks, I will post a link here, but in summary, one
of the refugees has some engament with a local isp and retailers the
service through managed community networks, this was featured in one of the
local media.

On Sunday, November 11, 2018, Hannington Oduor <hanningtondr at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Most would argue that the perceived dominance is well balanced through
> infrastructure shearing, but more than ever central point of failure has
> clearly been demonstrated, from security to energy,  health to financial
> institutions, just trying to imagine how it would be today if the ongoing
> exams were entangled within the same infrastructure, scenario wouldn't be
> very different from 8/8/17.
>
> On media, it's a fact to state that the current media has lost its
> position and clout within the society, forever playing catchup to the
> social media.
>
> professional now catch up and advertise on LinkedIn, brands are launched
> on Instagram while news breaks and trends on Twitter and Facebooks, if not
> for the Kenyan culture who believe it's not true unless on mainstream
> media, the breath is thinning by the second.
>
> On Sunday, November 11, 2018, Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Ali,
>>
>> I'm really trying to understand your viewpoint. Can you give an example
>> that illustrates how you demarcate between "Utopian Idealism", "Pragmatic
>> Idealism", "Pragmatism" and "Realism" in the context of this discussion?
>>
>> So you are saying that once a company (or any entity) has won people's
>> "hearts and minds" it becomes permanently irreproachable and should never
>> be criticized? That's a scary, (and somewhat Utopian?), way of looking at
>> things.
>>
>> This discussion can yield great insights if the disagreeing sides present
>> compelling and focused counter arguments that address the specific issues
>> raised. Otherwise we might just as well switch to discussing politics and
>> ideologies where emotion rules reason...
>>
>> At the very least, lets all come out more enlightened (in a balanced way)
>> about what the real issues are.
>>
>> Patrick.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, November 11, 2018, 4:18:19 PM GMT+3, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Ohaga/Patrick and all you Utopian Idealists out there:-
>>
>> 1. I refuse to continue disparaging a company that has won the hearts and
>> minds of a big part of it's consumers despite it's inadequacies. I have
>> argued many times here that 'dominance' is not a crime and that the failure
>> of regulation is not something to hold Safaricom accountable for. Hold it
>> against the regulator for f*@$s sake!  There are remedies that can take
>> care of that based on the law.
>>
>> 2. On Facebook and Google. You are correct and we agree here. Someone has
>> to pay the piper. There's nothing like a free lunch.
>>
>> 3. Safaricom is not perfect. It has many vulnerabilities. If only one
>> pays attention to it. For one, their UX, even as they claim leadership here
>> is crap. And I have written many times about this. Instead of spending so
>> much time #GreenBashing here's an idea - Go build a business model to
>> challenge it. It's not as hard as you guys make it sound. Here's a snippet
>> on my thoughts regarding Safaricom's perceived leadership.
>> <https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6464499552186621952>
>>
>>
>> There are organizations doing something about it. I fear that this fetish
>> on Safaricom's perceived dominance is detracting us from building lasting
>> organizations.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> *Ali Hussein*
>>
>> *Principal*
>>
>> *AHK & Associates*
>>
>>
>>
>> Tel: +254 713 601113
>>
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>
>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>> <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 Sun, Nov 11, 2018 at 2:36 PM Ohaga JB via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Hussein,
>>
>> On this one, I totally agree with Patrick, this is a quintessential
>> example of what may go wrong when you have a very powerful and definitely
>> dominant player, that single handedly 'runs' about 60% of all media
>> operations in the country through its advertising spends. Considering the
>> political economy of the media, Safaricom is certainly not just dominating
>> the mobile service market, it is also highy influencing (whether actively
>> or passively) what the mainstream media prints or broadcasts.
>>
>> On the 'freeness of Google and Facebook, I think that you've also adopted
>> an idealistic view. How are those two platforms free exactly? Users are
>> essentially consumers to be sold to companies looking to advertise. This is
>> the reason why their algorithms prioritize some content over others (hence
>> 'freeness' is reduced to their business interests). And even though we are
>> gradually increasing our digital footprint in Kenya, there are loads of
>> places in this country where the mainstream media (radio especially) is the
>> main source of information. Amongst most digital savvy users, news is
>> gotten from social media yes, but then a lot of these guys wait for
>> verification of the same infro they've gotten from social, from the
>> mainstream media. In fact, even on social media, some of the most credible
>> sources of information are posts from verified accounts of mainstream media
>> orgs. This has indeed become even more pressing in view of proliferation of
>> fake news.
>>
>> My view is that Safaricom needs to be held much more accountable given
>> the kind of power that it holds across our communications and financial
>> sector. It needs to prove that despite it's dominance, it's put mechanisms
>> in place to ensure that as mininal disruption as possible, is experienced
>> to the services that it provides, should a negative eventuality that
>> affects its operations occurs, as it most certainly will.
>>
>> In my opinion, the market does not always have a solution for everything
>> especially because it's main focus is profit generation. At times, a
>> combination of market forces and interventions in public interest work best
>> for both the businesses and the public.
>>
>> Regards,
>> JB.
>>
>> On Sun, Nov 11, 2018 at 11:34 AM Admin CampusCiti via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>> Patrick
>>
>> I completely agree with you on this. However, I have a different solution
>> to this. Local media stopped being the only source of major news today.
>> Many a time news breaks out through bloggers and influencers on social
>> media. The mainstream media is quickly becoming irrelevant as they continue
>> depending on big ad spenders. They should have gone down market long time
>> ago.
>>
>> The issue of big media houses pandering to their advertisers is neither
>> new or is it confined to Kenya. To focus on one entity is disingenuous to
>> say the least...
>>
>> And by the way there’s nothing like ‘free’ in media. Free is Facebook and
>> Google. And see where that's getting us.. someone must pay the piper
>> brother. If not now then eventually. The bill eventually comes due. No two
>> ways about it.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> *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 10 Nov 2018, at 10:09 PM, Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>> Is our media truly independent, objective and fearless as they claim -
>> especially when it comes to reporting on their most lucrative customers? Compare
>> to the prominence and coverage of reports on Government website downtime,
>> as well as Huduma downtimes for example...
>>
>> My take is, when you have an entity (or group of entities) that the media
>> appears to "fear" or "favor" more than the Government, the potential for
>> impunity and abuse that comes with such power should be of great concern to
>> any regulator. At the very least, it can allow public interest problems (or
>> their impact) to stay under the radar for a long time with a heavy cost to
>> the wider economy.
>>
>> A healthy (and free) media should have well diversified revenue streams
>> such that there is minimum conflict of interest that is potentially
>> attributable to the concentration of market power. Yet another solid reason
>> (imo) for modernization of our anti-trust regulations.
>>
>> ====
>> I wonder if the CCTVs are affected.. hopefully there is a proper
>> continuity plan in place.
>>
>> ====
>> As stated in my earlier email just a few days ago, dominant players
>> should be mandated by law to demonstrate adequate provision for continuity
>> and resiliency across all economic sectors where they are active - with
>> independent audits, certification and testing of their BCP, DRP etc - the
>> frequency of which should be aligned with potential severity of downtimes.
>>
>> ====
>>
>> Have a great weekend!
>> Patrick.
>>
>>
>> On Saturday, November 10, 2018, 5:39:15 PM GMT+3, Twahir Hussein Kassim
>> via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hannington, kindly brief us on the Dadaab example.
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 10, 2018, 12:50 Hannington Oduor via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote:
>>
>> Dadaab refugee camp has a classic example of such a network and bearing
>> it's location and the regulation, it's a potential data resource area.
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 8, 2018, 16:39 Twahir Hussein Kassim via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote:
>>
>> Listers,
>>
>> Am looking at rolling out a community network in Kilifi. What are the
>> government regulations on this? CA website is silent on this.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Twahir
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>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
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>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/m
>> ailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com
>>
>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
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>>
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/m
>> ailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%40yahoo.com
>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
> *Computer and Cellular Forensic InvestigatorCyber Crime Unit CID HQ
> Nairobi 0720-727003ENCASE II        C.H.F.I*
>
>

-- 

*Computer and Cellular Forensic InvestigatorCyber Crime Unit CID HQ Nairobi
0720-727003ENCASE II        C.H.F.I*
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