France Telecom plans 500,000 subscriber additions in Kenya (Europe, Africa)
As per reports, Mickael Ghossein, CEO, France Telecom has said that the Kenyan unit plans to add 500,000 users to its network by the end of 2012 and wants the regulator to double rates operators can charge to carry each others’ voice calls.
He added that Telkom Kenya is targeting 3.3 million customers, or 11.2 per cent market share, from 2.8 million users now. Further, the company wants Kenya’s telecommunications regulator to raise termination rates to $0.05 a minute to help it recover costs.
Ghossein also said that it is good to protect the consumer; but it is also good to protect the investors.
According to a report by the Communications Commission of Kenya, the number of people using mobile phones in Kenya rose to 26.5 million in September, up from 25.2 million in June. The report revealed that Safaricom accounted for 68 per cent share of the market, followed by Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd. with 16 percent.
CCK sets terms for number portability (Kenya)
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has reportedly announced that it will take a maximum of 2 days for a mobile phone subscriber to migrate to a new network once mobile number portability comes into effect on April 1.
The MNP process is expected to begin as scheduled. CCK stated that the process could also take a few minutes but that it has set 48 hours as the maximum time needed to port numbers. As per Regulator Director General Charles Njoroge, CCK will launch a consumer campaign this week, providing more information over the process.
A subscriber will have to stay within the new network for three months before being allowed to port again. To migrate, subscribers must pay a one off fee of US$2.40, with normal charges applied thereafter.
Safaricom says set to launch MNP (Kenya)
Safaricom Kenya has stated that it is ready to launch the MNP services (Mobile number portability) ahead of the April 1 deadline.
According to CEO Bob Collymore, Safaricom has aligned all the critical systems and is ready to implement the protocol from the April 1 date as set by the Communications Commission of Kenya. Safaricom hopes that other operators are equally prepared. He stated that inter-operator tests carried out so far by Safaricom and one of the operators as instructed by the CCK had shown a system that works.
He hoped that tests with other operators will be comparable and welcomed mobile subscribers to take advantage of the new protocol to migrate and enjoy Safaricom’s proposition. Porting subscribers are expected to pay a fee of US$2.34 to Porting Access, the company appointed to administer the porting process.
CCK says operators ready to begin MNP testing (Kenya)
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has stated that the mobile operators are ready to begin testing the mobile number portability system.
As per CCK, according to the latest reports of the technical meetings, all operators are ready to commence testing their MNP systems this week.
According to previous reports, a number of mobile operators were not technically ready for the service which is to be implemented on April 1. Orange Kenya Mickael Ghossein stated that operators were yet to carry out technical trials and some don’t have the equipment in place.
The regulator added that although the mobile operators may not be exactly at the same level of preparedness, the Commission is yet to receive any formal notification suggesting inability to implement MNP by the agreed date of April 1. The country missed the initial December 2010 deadline due to logistical issues, operators said.
Kenya Mobile Users increase by 9.5%
The Communications Commission of Kenya has stated that Kenya’s mobile-phone users rose at the fastest pace in at least four quarters in the three months through September as tariffs in the East African nation fell.
According to data compiled by the commission, the number of users increased 9.5% to 22 million in the third quarter of 2010. In the three months through June, user numbers increased 1%, and rose to 2.6% and 8.4% in the two preceding quarters respectively.
Kenya’s telecommunications regulator in August ordered mobile-phone operators to halve the rates they charge each other to transmit calls across networks. That triggered a round of reductions in call costs by companies to as low as one cent per minute.
The commission added that mobile tariffs reduced significantly over the quarter registering an average of $0.03 for on-network calls per minute from US$0.05 per minute in the previous period. During the quarter, Airtel Kenya Ltd., the domestic unit of Delhi-based Bharti Airtel Ltd., grew its market share to 13.5% (1.14 million) users, from 9.1% in the previous three months. Telkom Kenya Ltd., a unit of France Telecom SA, expanded its market share to 4%, (323,298 users) from 2.7%.
CCK confirms issuing of new spectrum fees in March (Kenya)
Telecoms regulator the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has confirmed that it will issue new spectrum fees for both operators and broadcasters in March 2011.
According to CCK Director General Charles Njoroge, the idea of reviewing the licensing and spectrum fees is to enable broadcasters and operators to reach rural areas. CCK expects the operators to pass on the savings to consumers through lower prices. A system of assigning telecoms frequencies through auctions would be phased in, replacing the set fees currently leveled at operators. The price review is believed to be a response to claims from mobile operators that high charges have hindered their expansion to non-urban areas.
In December 2010 market leader by subscribers Safaricom blamed CCK for not providing sufficient spectrum to cater for its enlarged subscriber base, resulting in poor results in the CCK’s Quality of Service (QoS) assessment.
As per CEO Bob Collymore, unfortunately, one of the major constraints they face is inadequate allocation of GSM 1800 spectrum, as all operators are allocated the same quantity of spectrum by CCK, yet they have the largest number of subscribers who would benefit significantly if CCK granted Safaricom this additional resource.
Telkom Kenya Planning to Start Mobile-Money Transfer Services soon
Telkom Kenya is planning to introduce mobile-banking services by the end of this year in partnership with Main local bank.
According to the Communications Commission of Kenya, East Africa’s Mobile-phone operators are spreading into banking products to solve the problem of the country where four out of every five people don’t have a bank account. Penetration of mobile phones in Kenya is about 51% in a population of 38.6 million,
According to Snehar Shah, head of Orange Money, the company is providing a much richer product than competitors. The service will allow users to send money from abroad, carry out electronic banking, and pay for goods and services online, as well as transfer funds locally. It will be backed by strategic partners, declining to name them.
Telkom Kenya is also set to compete with Zain Kenya, country’s second- biggest mobile-phone operator, the local unit of Bharti Airtel Ltd., who holds the money-transfer service called Zap. Essar Telecom Kenya Ltd. operates a version of the system called YuCash.
In July, 11.9 million people in Kenya used their mobile phones to send and receive cash through the mobile money transfer service M-Pesa initiated by Safaricom Ltd. in March 2007.
Price Cuts by Kenyan operators may shrink Investment: Ndemo
According to the Communication Ministry Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo, price cuts by Kenyan mobile-phone operators are too deep and are resulting in revenue losses which can curb investment in the industry.
In a move to challenge the market leaders Safaricom that controls 80% of the market share in country, Zain Kenya (Bharti Airtel Ltd.) reduced the calling rates for all domestic networks by half to 4 cents per minute last month. After Airtel’s strong move to gain the price leadership, the incumbent ‘Safaricom’ announced a month long promotion offering further lowered call charges. The Nairobi-based Company now announced cheaper text-message fees for its subscribers.
According to Ndemo, Mobile-phone operators should not have cut in so deeply. It will cut into their profits for investment.
The price battle began when Communications Commission of Kenya announced it has cut the prices by half the fee operators charge to carry cross-network traffic.
As per the regulator, the number of mobile-phone subscribers in Kenya increased 2.7% to 19.9 million by the end of June, compared with the last quarter.
