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CCK, regulation and the cost to the consumer

Written by Rebecca Wanjiku

Tuesday, 26 February 2008

When the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) board was disbanded by former Information and Communication Minister Raphael Tuju, there was an outcry from the local and international Information Society. I remember Steve Lang, an editor from South Africa calling me, wondering whether the gains of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) had been reversed. Kenya, afterall, played a pivotal role within WSIS, chairing the all important Internet Governance track while promising to increase internet access to all. Still, there was hope that the government's move would work for the good of all.

But with time, it seems what was supposed to be changed actually never changed. The industry's hope that CCK would regulate the telecommunications industry came to nothing.

The CCK website, cites tariff regulation within the telecoms sector as well as the postal sector as one of its core duties, but the write up is so brief thatit is clear not enough attention was paid to the matter at all. Further, there is no evidence that the CCK has done anything to address interconnectivity tariffs within Celtel and Safaricom. The expected attempt at an explanation for the difference between cross-network and intra-network charges is invisible, even as the issue continues to be one of the great complaints of the Kenyan consumer.

Sample this: one can call for KShs 4 within Celtel or KShs 8 per minute within Safaricom (take your pick). Why does it cost me KShs 40 to call Celtel from Safaricom? The 26% duty aside, it means that the true cost of terminating a call between either of the two networks is actually quite low, certainly much lower than what is asked of consumers. The resulting high charges are because the two networks want to limit and lock consumers to their respective networks, a grossly unfair anti-competition measure.

While I do not expect the CCK to set prices, I feel they should regulate them. They should bring the respective heads to a negotiating table and document their deliberations and protestations on the website, that way, we know who is stubborn, who is anti-competition is it Safaricom or Celtel.

Of course, there are other issues that the CCK needs to address such as marketing and advertising. They sponsored the Africa Cup of Nations and I enjoyed the games, but please get over that football referee/ moving goal posts advert and start delivering.

Rebecca Wanjiku
		About the author:
		Rebecca Wanjiku is a Kenyan journalist and entrpreneur. She writes on technology and media issues and publishes the BeckyIT blog.