[kictanet] KICA Amendments: Control of anti-competitive practices by telecommunication operators

[Barrack Otieno]

I think as the business and the sector matures separation will be key.
Convergence also makes it hard to measure the digital economy from a
product or service perspective.

Regards

On Thu, 24 Oct 2019, 11:51 pm Mwendwa Kivuva, <Kivuva at transworldafrica.com>
wrote:

> Thanks Barrack.
>
> To your question, the main aim of this bill as indicated in the document
> is to "aid in the control of anti-competitive practices by large
> telecommunication industries in the sector."
>
> Just for context, I saw the acting CEO of Safaricom in the news today
> challenging the dominance and competition issue.
>
> He said that Safaricom's other main non-telecommunication business,
> M-pesa, could never have been successful without being bundled with voice
> and data. He said that the first 5 years of M-pesa was never successful. It
> was subsidized by voice and data. He also said he does not see the point of
> separating M-pesa to punish Safaricom for investing heavily to make the
> business successful.
>
> On Thursday, 24 October 2019, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Kivuva,
>>
>> I am confused on this one though it makes sense to distill the components
>> of converged networks. In a way, it will provide better premises for
>> measuring the digital economy. I am ok with this clause. It needs further
>> clarity and meat.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> On Thu, 24 Oct 2019, 9:32 am Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet, <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>>> This is a continuation of the debate to amend the Kenya Information and
>>> Communications Act (KICA).
>>>
>>> Comments and thoughts are welcomed for yesterday's debate moderated by
>>> Mercy Mutemi on the regulation of social media and blogging. We can
>>> continue contributing through that thread.
>>>
>>> Today, we discuss the amendments to KCIA published on March 15th, 2019,
>>> recommended by Hon Elisha Odhiambo, MP, seeking to add a new section 25A on
>>> splitting telecommunications businesses, and section 34A on the
>>> compensation of telecommunications consumers on call drops, and section 84J
>>> prescribing how the Universal Service Fund (USF) should be used.
>>>
>>> *The new Section 25A requires telecommunications operators to*
>>> - Obtain a license for additional business.
>>> - Legally split the telecommunications business from additional business.
>>> - Provide separate accounts and reports in respect of all business
>>> carried out.
>>> - Require Communications Authority to report compliance annually to
>>> Parliament.
>>>
>>> The reasons given for this bill are to allow telecommunications
>>> companies to engage in other businesses, and also aid in the control of
>>> anti-competitive practices by large industries in the sector.
>>>
>>> What are your thoughts on this amendment? Do we have any specific
>>> recommendations we can pass to Parliament through the public participation
>>> process?
>>>
>>> Warm Regard
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> kictanet mailing list
>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet
>>> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/
>>>
>>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
>>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otieno.barrack%40gmail.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.
>>>
>>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20191024/b428464b/attachment.htm>