<div>Hi Tom,</div><div><br></div><div>This is where I sneak into the debate and salute you!</div><div><br></div><div>Is there a investor in SEACOM or TEAMS that would differ with the submission as a reason to significantly lower internet access rates?</div>
<div><br></div><div>KDN are charging $600 for a 1MB/1MB link over fibre and $300 for 512K/512K. That is a significant drop because <b>25,000/= </b>is what you'd be paying for a 512k/512k instead of 125,000/= per month if you had 512/512 on some unnamed ISP a few months ago.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I do not really believe we should be debating whether or not there will be an immediate drop. It is clear that an immediate drop has happened with some providers. Maybe we should just move to the provider capable to passing the gains we have for so long fought for....business/economic arguments and analogies aside.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Regards,</div><div>Wainaina</div><div><br></div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 5:07 PM, Maliti, Tom <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tmaliti@ap.org">tmaliti@ap.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Palatino Linotype">Hi,</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Palatino Linotype"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Palatino Linotype">Assuming all things remain equal, here's a line from
this year's budget speech that suggests, at the least, ISPs should be bringing
down prices as well as offering bigger bundles:</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Palatino Linotype"><font face="Helvetica-Narrow"></font></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Palatino Linotype">******************************</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font face="Palatino Linotype">First, <b>Mr. Speaker, </b>The East African Marine
System Ltd (Teams) and Seacom Kenya Ltd</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left">
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">have invested heavily in under sea
fibre optic cables, whose completion and full deployment is</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">expected to reduce significantly
the cost of communication in our country. In addition to other</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">measures which the Government has
so far taken to encourage such investment and to further</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">encourage the uptake of this
facility by the internet service providers and other intermediaries,
I</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">propose:</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">(i) To allow the internet service
providers to offset against their taxable income the cost</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">incurred in acquiring the right to
use the fibre optic cable over a period of twenty years;</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">(ii) To increase wear and tear on
telecommunication equipment including the fibre optic cable</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Palatino Linotype">from 12.5% to 20%;</font></p>
<p><font face="Palatino Linotype">(iii) To provide tax deduction of 5% on
computer software.</font></p>
<p><span><font face="Palatino Linotype">*********************************</font></span></p></div>
<div><span><font face="Palatino Linotype">May be we
need to look at things from a different angle ...</font></span></div>
<div><font face="Palatino Linotype"></font> </div>
<p><font size="2">Tom Maliti<br>Correspondent<br>East Africa Bureau<br><br>Direct
line: +254 20 285 9109<br>Office line: +254 20 285
9000<br>
+254 734 555 252<br>Fax: +254 20 2724726<br>Mobile +254 733 641 984</font> </p>
<div> </div><br>
<div lang="en-us" dir="ltr" align="left">
<hr>
<font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>From:</b>
kictanet-bounces+tmaliti=<a href="http://ap.org" target="_blank">ap.org</a>@<a href="http://lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:kictanet-bounces%2Btmaliti" target="_blank">kictanet-bounces+tmaliti</a>=<a href="http://ap.org" target="_blank">ap.org</a>@<a href="http://lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>] <b>On Behalf Of
</b>Florence Etta<br><b>Sent:</b> 18 August 2009 14:24<br><b>To:</b> Maliti,
Tom<div class="im"><br><b>Cc:</b> KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<br></div><div><div></div><div class="h5"><b>Subject:</b> Re:
[kictanet] the long fibre lie...Regulatory Action limited.<br></div></div></font><br></div><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<div></div>
<div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:garamond,new york,times,serif">If the
WASC experience is anythng to go by falling prices are not guaranteed simply by
the presence of increased bandwidth!<br><br><br><br>Cheers,<br>FE<br><br>(<span style="font-style:italic">Still alive, kicking and yes lurking</span>!)<br><br>
<div> </div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(64,64,255);font-style:italic;font-family:arial narrow">Florence
Etta PhD </span><span style="color:rgb(64,64,255);font-style:italic;font-family:arial narrow"></span><br style="color:rgb(64,64,255);font-style:italic;font-family:arial narrow"><span style="color:rgb(64,64,255);font-style:italic;font-family:arial narrow">Telephone:</span></div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(64,64,255);font-style:italic;font-family:arial narrow">Nairobi
Mobile: +254-733-621-851</span></div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(64,64,255);font-style:italic;font-family:arial narrow">New
York Rez: +1-917-639-3691<br>Canada Rez: +1-613-232-2729<br></span></div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(64,64,255);font-style:italic;font-family:arial narrow">Alternative
<a href="mailto:Email%3Aflorence.etta@gmail.com" target="_blank">Email:florence.etta@gmail.com</a></span></div>
<div><br></div>
<div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:garamond,new york,times,serif"><br>
<div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif"><font face="Tahoma" size="2">
<hr size="1">
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">From:</span></b> warigia bowman
<<a href="mailto:warigia@gmail.com" target="_blank">warigia@gmail.com</a>><br><b><span style="font-weight:bold">To:</span></b>
<a href="mailto:feanywhere@yahoo.co.uk" target="_blank">feanywhere@yahoo.co.uk</a><br><b><span style="font-weight:bold">Cc:</span></b>
KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
<<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>><br><b><span style="font-weight:bold">Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, 18 August, 2009
7:02:56<br><b><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject:</span></b> Re: [kictanet]
the long fibre lie...Regulatory Action limited.<br></font><br>Dear Alex
<div><br></div>
<div>I share your frustration about the high prices and low bandwidth. My bamba
is still slow. I too believe consumers are not getting a fair
deal. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>That being said, in Ndemo's defense, he is one of the most honest and
hardworking PSes I have met in my research so far in this beautiful country of
ours, across many different sectors. In terms of roles, the PS is the
implementer, whereas the Minister is the policy "maker." Although lets be
honest, Ndemo often does most of his bosses work, while not getting the credit,
or the paycheck . . . </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I think your ire, while very justified, should be directed at the
Ministers, and at the companies, particularly Safaricom and Zain. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Yours, Warigia<br><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Gakuru Alex <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="padding-left:1ex;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid">Warigia,<br><br>Below
message to consumers and skunkworks lists sparked the heated
discussions.<br><br>On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:11 AM, Alex Gakuru<<a href="mailto:gakuru@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">gakuru@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>> What
a long optics fibre lie the whole thing was...<br>><br>> ---Business
Daily---<br>><br>> "we do not anticipate that [Internet] prices will
drop as drastically<br>> as initially indicated or within a short
time-frame"<br>><br>> <<a href="http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/639386/-/u8ardrz/-/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/639386/-/u8ardrz/-/index.html</a>><br>
><br>>
"..it was planning to implement an immediate 24 per cent discount on<br>>
its internet charges and promised higher discounts once connections to<br>>
international fibre optic links went live by the end of next
month.."<br>><br>> <<a href="http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/638808/-/u8bcyoz/-/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/638808/-/u8bcyoz/-/index.html</a>><br>
><br>>
---summary---<br>> in short, consumers are going to continue being
ripped-off while a<br>> just too comfortable "hands-off" government sits
back pretentiously<br>> expecting "market-forces" to push prices down
-<br>><br>> The way I see it? we have several options a) to demand
government<br>> officers( Ndemo & Co.) who promised cheap internet to
resign, b)<br>> demand regulator to wake up and proactively set the prices
c) continue<br>> living in a denial and that,hopefully, one day we will
have<br>> "affordable" internet in Kenya.<br>><br>> Where is Bitange
Ndemo and and why did he lie to us and raised<br>> Kenyans' hopes for cheap
internet? we shall have serious problems to<br>> believe anything he
promises henceforth. He should resign if internet<br>> prices do not go
down as he promised.<br>><br>> And who runs this country anyway?
telecommunication companies or the<br>> government and the
regulator?<br>><br>> Alex<br>>
_______________________________________________<br>> ke-internetusers
mailing list<br>> <a href="mailto:ke-internetusers@bdix.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ke-internetusers@bdix.net</a><br>>
<a href="http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers</a><br>><br><br>Waundo,<br><br>Kenya
current problem not that old one, its different and it is<br>"failed
telecommunications market liberarisation."<br><br><br>" 3.4.
Most rural areas still do not have Internet access despite<br>the fact
that there<br> are many licensed ISPs.
Additionally, the quality of service has not<br>
improved. Isn’t there a need to make provisions to enable<br>rural
access and<br> enforce Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) to guarantee quality<br>of service?<br>The licensed
operators present said that the major factors hindering<br>their rollout to
the<br>rural areas are:<br> o High
cost of connectivity offered by carriers.<br>Competition has been
used,<br> as a means to
lower prices however there seems to be<br>no correlation<br>
between the cost and the number of
players in the<br>market. The licensing<br>
of more players in the IG&BO and PDNO licence has
not<br>translated to<br>
lower access costs.<br> o
Competition may also be used as a means to improving<br>quality of
service<br> delivery
and encourage the use of Service Level<br>Agreements (SLA). This<br>
however has not been evident
in the Kenyan market.<br> o Finally,
competition should result in increased access<br>and availability to<br>
telecommunication service and
infrastructure.<br>However, since rural areas<br>
are not economically viable, most
operators<br>concentrate operations in<br>
urban centres."<br><br><<a href="http://www.cck.go.ke/isp_stakeholders.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.cck.go.ke/isp_stakeholders.pdf</a>><br><br>The
question begs... What are the Ministry of Information and<br>Communications
and the Regulator actually doing to ensure that<br>consumers
benefit?<br><br>For further erodes hopes, if not adds insult to consumers
injuries, to<br>read on today's Business Daily "BUYOUT CCK says local
ownership rule<br>waived to allow foreign investor own more than 80
p.c"<br><br>Could some people in government actually responsible and/or prefer
the<br>statu-quo to remain? Now is the time to ask some of these
hard<br>questions- "academics" aside!<br><br>Alex<br>
<div>
<div></div>
<div><br><br>On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 12:28 PM, waudo siganga<<a href="mailto:emailsignet@mailcan.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">emailsignet@mailcan.com</a>>
wrote:<br>> Hi Warigia - First sorry for missing ur big day due to
some other commitment<br>> I had. I do not believe governments
or governmental agencies should set<br>> consumer prices
on anything. That is the work of market forces through<br>>
competition. What governments need to do is ensure an environment
that<br>> fosters competition. The example of ATT is from the old days when
ATT was a<br>> monopoly operator. It reminds me of the 1998 Kenya
Communications Act that<br>> gave monopoly status to Telkom Kenya in
provision of some services such as<br>> landlines in Nairobi and
international telephony. The mistaken rationale was<br>> that Telkom would
rake in some "super profits" which would in turn be<br>> utilised in
universal access provision. Needless to say those objectives<br>> were
never attained. All along we prodded the Government to free the market<br>>
through competition and private sector investment. When this happend as
in<br>> the case of the mobile telephony sector the results in terms of
better and<br>> more afrordable services were quick to manifest. Our
argument in the case of<br>> universal access was that it was better
for the Government to allow freedom<br>> in the market and then use
fiscal instruments to raise funds from the<br>> IMPROVED, EXPANDED and
CHEAPER services. This is being done today through a<br>>
10% excise tax on airtime and, believe me, most users do not even notice
it.<br>><br>> With the marine fibre I noticed what looked like
cross-ownership and<br>> cross-interest in the different ventures and maybe
that can have an effect<br>> on the competitive environment necessary to
bring prices down significantly.<br>><br>> Kind Regards,<br>>
Waudo<br>><br>><br>> On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:21 +0300, "warigia
bowman" <<a href="mailto:warigia@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">warigia@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>><br>> Dear Brian<br>><br>> Do you believe that ISPs in
Kenya are sufficiently competitive to keep<br>> prices fair? I am just
asking. I really do not know.<br>><br>> What about the concern people
have expressed that KDN has dropped prices<br>> dramatically to ISPs, but
consumers are not seeing the benefit.<br>><br>> By the way, it is
WONDERFUL to hear from you!<br>><br>> Rigia<br>><br>> On Tue, Aug
18, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Brian Munyao Longwe <<a href="mailto:blongwe@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blongwe@gmail.com</a>><br>>
wrote:<br>><br>> Good point Warigia and the same applies here - CCK can
and have exercised<br>> their authority to regulate voice pricing - this is
especially true when<br>> there is either a monopoly or an operator with
significant market share.<br>><br>> The same does not apply to market
sectors like Internet services because<br>> there is full competition and
never any player with significant market<br>> share. In the USA - FCC have
never regulated Internet or bandwidth pricing<br>> as market forces
generally accomplish this.<br>><br>> Best regards,<br>><br>>
Brian<br>><br>><br>> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 11:11 AM, warigia bowman
<<a href="mailto:warigia@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">warigia@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>><br>><br>><br>> Dear colleagues<br>><br>> Rates
of operators can and have been regulated, In fact, in the United<br>>
States we had something called rate of return regulation when ATT was
a<br>> monopoly. They were allowed to charge a high rate, but in exchange,
they had<br>> to ensure every tiny village of even 200 had phone service.
Why can't our<br>> operators do that?<br>><br>> Sincerely,
Warigia<br>><br>> On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 8:40 AM, Walubengo J <<a href="mailto:jwalu@yahoo.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">jwalu@yahoo.com</a>>
wrote:<br>><br>><br>><br>> Alex,<br>><br>> Your have rightly
qaulified your solution - as simple. Indeed it is. Infact<br>> too
simplistic to fly. The idea that the Regulator can reign in
Operators<br>> who charge "high" internet rates cannot and will not work.
Think about the<br>> in-famous SAT3 fiber link on the west coast of
africa. Ask yourself why the<br>> Regulators in Nigeria, Ghana,
Cameroon, Angola, S-Africa etc have never<br>> stepped in and revoked
licensces of operators over the last 15yrs of high<br>> internet costs
offered on the fiber...<br>><br>> The answers are very complex...I will
actually be discussing these<br>> limitations and available interventions
in some upcoming ICT conference at<br>> Strath University in Sept 09 and I
dont want to pre-empt ;-)....<br>><br>> walu.<br>><br>><br>>
--- On Fri, 8/14/09, Gakuru Alex <<a href="mailto:alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>><br>>> From: Gakuru Alex <<a href="mailto:alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com</a>><br>>>
Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] Fwd: the long fibre lie... Ndemo should
resign<br>>> if internet prices do not drop as he promised!!<br>>>
To: "Skunkworks forum" <<a href="mailto:skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke</a>><br>>>
Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 8:44 PM<br>>> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at
7:38 PM,<br>>> David Kiania | Asentric Consulting<br>>> Ltd<<a href="mailto:kianiadee@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">kianiadee@gmail.com</a>><br>>>
wrote:<br>>> ><br>>> > Set the precedence what's your
solution? Am sure if<br>>> you did we'd have<br>>> >
heard it by now. This thread is a knee jerk reaction<br>>> to a bad
internet<br>>> > day, we all have one.<br>>>
><br>>><br>>> Simple, the entity under Ndemo's docket that
grants these<br>>> cowboy<br>>> operators licenses puts it's foot
down and warn that I may<br>>> revoke<br>>> licenses for operators
that charge waaaay up in the sky not<br>>> just above<br>>> cost
but ABOVE acceptable international pricing benchmarks.<br>>>
They've<br>>> all the data they need. Imagine, for example, Safaricom
on<br>>> the verge<br>>> of losing their license, price drops,
drops, drops, drops,<br>>> drops, and<br>>> drops..... across
board.<br>>><br>>> Would this be acceptable to you?<br>>>
_______________________________________________<br>>> Skunkworks mailing
list<br>>> <a href="mailto:Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke</a><br>>>
<a href="http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks</a><br>>>
Other services @ <a href="http://my.co.ke" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://my.co.ke</a><br>>> Other lists<br>>>
-------------<br>>> Announce:<br>>> <a href="http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce</a><br>
>>
Science: <a href="http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science</a><br>>>
kazi: <a href="http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general</a><br>>><br>></div></div></blockquote></div>
--
<br>Dr. Warigia Bowman<br>Assistant Professor <br>The Department of Public
Policy Leadership<br>The University of Mississippi<br>107 Odom
Hall<br>University, MS 38677<br><br>URL: <a href="http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/leadership/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/leadership/index.html</a><br>PHONE:
662-915-1904<br>EMAIL: <a href="mailto:mwbowman@olemiss.edu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mwbowman@olemiss.edu</a><br></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><pre>The information contained in this communication is intended for the use
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