Kenya’s telecommunications sector could be headed for massive restructuring as Parliament next week receives a bill seeking to declare mobile network operator, Safaricom, a dominant player in the industry.
Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) through the Ministry of Information and Communication is sponsoring the bill expected to address concerns raised by rival industry players who insist that Safaricom be declared a dominant player. “As Government we are concerned about the issue of market unevenness and we are sending the regulations to Parliament next week to address some of the concerns that have been raised in the past,” stated Fred Matiang’i, Information and Communication Cabinet secretary.
Mr Matiang’i stated that the legislation is not meant to clip the wings of Safaricom but is a genuine concern to make the country’s telecommunication sector more competitive. “We do not want this politicised and we are not after any specific player in the market,” he said. “We just want to have a level playing field so that some players are not struggling out of the market.” Airtel early this year, wrote to Matiang’i requesting to have Safaricom declared a dominant player and split into three.
Market share “In other countries, as soon as a mobile operator reaches 50 per cent market share, there are some measures taken not to give preferential treatment but to give other players a chance to expand their market share to be able to compete and invest,” explained Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi in a past interview.
The CA has in the past responded to criticisms of favouritism towards Safaricom by stating that Kenya does not have adequate anti-trust laws to govern the telecom industry.
“These 14 sets of regulations are supposed to help us cover a number of things including management of market dominance and the bill is very clear that anyone who has more than 50 per cent of the market share is declared a dominant player,” stated Wangusi.
