<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Jambo! </div><div class=""><br class=""></div>Ethiopia’s only telco, Ethiotel, has announced it will be charging for VOIP services considering they are loosing revenue to the Vibers and WhatsApps of these world. <div class="">They floated a Request for Information on the supply of Policy and Charging Control (PCC) and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) mid last year: <a href="http://www.ethionet.et/sites/default/files/bid/RFQ-3209012.pdf" class="">http://www.ethionet.et/sites/default/files/bid/RFQ-3209012.pdf</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It seems the set up is complete and they will go ahead with implementation (<a href="http://www.addisinsight.com/ethio-telecom-charge-services-like-viber-whatsapp/" class="">http://www.addisinsight.com/ethio-telecom-charge-services-like-viber-whatsapp/</a>). There have been network disruptions since last week on VOIP apps and some basic probes I did pointed to IP address blocking but whatever it is they are doing notwithstanding, this raises some issues here. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The fight back from telcos against OTTs in the name of revenue/tax/infrastructure costs seems to have moved beyond policy. Technical capacity implies that debate is closed on their end. Ethiotel is a special case considering it is fully owned by the government and it is the only telco in Africa’s second most populous country (around 95Million people). It is easier for them to make decisions. For countries with more liberalised markets, and where government is a regulator not a service provider, could it be that the only impediment to adopting such technical capacities is government regulation and oversight? Could it be that Kenyans, for example, are charged to use WhatsApp but at a very negligible fee that no one notices? </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This moves beyond the market - it is a human rights issue. Consumers should not be punished for adopting innovations. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Moses. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><font size="1" style="font-family: arial; widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">---</font></div><div class=""><font size="1" style="font-family: arial; widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Moses Karanja | </font><font color="#93c47d" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a href="https://twitter.com/Mose_Karanja" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-size: x-small;" class="">@Mose_Karanja</a><span style="font-size: x-small;" class=""> | </span></font><font color="#000000" style="widows: 1; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: x-small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">PGP: </font><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); widows: 1; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: x-small; letter-spacing: 0.28px; line-height: 34px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a href="https://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=index&fingerprint=on&search=0x1529552F" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><font color="#6aa84f" class="">0x1529552F</font></a></span></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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