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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">There's need for consumer issues to be taken VERY seriously in the Kenyan Telecommunication market. I believe CCK is listening and
this should not be allowed to happen to any Kenyan consumer.</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">As a non-user of money transfer services (I'm a proxy user), I decided to try the Mpesa service today as I did not have a 3rd party proxy to undertake
the transaction on my behalf as I usually do. The last I tried to register for the service, I was informed that I had an old generation SIM card and needed to replace it yet the agent did not have the replacement SIMs. I was directed to follow a convoluted
process of getting the replacement SIM, which I did not have the time for at that point.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Today, I was rudely informed that as a non registered user I cannot send money by Mpesa (Prestige service provider) - never mind that I have a
very active Safaricom line. This puzzled me as in the banking sector, you can always bank money into any account at a bank in which you're not a "member".
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">So in search for an answer to this issue, I decided to call a Safaricom Officer (Ms Bernice - department that issues Short Codes) to get some assistance.
I called her on my Zain line. As soon as she picked the call, she was very cold and retorted "for starters, you have called me from the wrong network - meaning from Zain - and secondly, you cannot send money if you are not a registered user".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">My issue as a consumer is - why should I be rebuked for using my Zain line to call Safaricom? Is it a Safaricom policy that no one should call
them using a Zain line or lines from other network providers? what does the CCK regulations say about such issues? My little telecommunication background tells me that the "consumer is king" and that a consumer must exercise their "right of choice" in a competitive
market. why should I be dictated to what network I MUST USE or NOT use to make calls? Is this a reflection of the interconnection issues that are currently hitting media headlines?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">I have taken this issue very seriously and demand an apology and response from Safaricom. I believe CCK will take appropriate action to ensure
that this is not the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> modus operandi</i> in the Kenyan telecommunication market.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Edith<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Kenyan Consumer </span></font><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f497d; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-themecolor: text2"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</span></span></b><span style="COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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