Airtel Kenya has opposed the bill on laws and regulations for governing the ICT space in Kenya. The bill dubbed The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2015 has already been published in the Kenya gazette and contains proposals that will amend the Kenya Information and Communications Act 1998.
According to Airtel, due process was not followed in the development of the bill as Airtel was not consulted despite being the second largest network provider in Kenya. The network provider further noted that this will grossly undermine the independence of the Communications Authority (CA).
Additionally, Airtel has raised issue with the remove of powers from CA of declaring a network provider as dominant, saying it is against international best practices and may kill competition and lead to a monopoly.
“The Communications Authority and the Cabinet Secretary of Information and Communication have both claimed that they don’t know where the proposed amendments originated from, and this is worrying given the effects the bill will have,” Airtel further added in a statement.
