July 2011 - KICTANet

international sms provider
by Rehanah Mohammed 05 Jul '11

05 Jul '11

hi all, I urgently need a hook up to an international sms provider. this is bulk sms thus need for best international rates. if you know someone ask them to call me asap on 0724344198 Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

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Re: [kictanet] Kenya IGF 2011 List Discussions Day 4 Cloud Computing
by Sam Aguyo 05 Jul '11

05 Jul '11

Dear listeners, 1. What role should the government play to promote cloud computing in Kenya? 2. What practical steps should we take as a nation that will move cloud computing from a lofty idea into a strategic commercial resource? Cloud computing encompasses Software as a service – SaaS, Platform as a Service – PaaS and Infrastructure as a Service – IaaS. This therefore means that the government can intervene at different levels considering the strategic objectives it would want to pursue. A case in point is that we have many students conducting research in the country, however they have to more often than not distribute printed out questionnaires to respondents, this process is time consuming making the research process a pain. Would the universities work with the private sector to develop an online survey tool under the SaaS concept? Cloud computing demands almost 0% of infrastructure failure rate which is achievable through establishment of reliable data centres. Sam

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Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] Kenya IGF 2011 Discussions Day 2 of 10
by Matunda Nyanchama 05 Jul '11

05 Jul '11

Mobile payments have redefined the movement of money across Kenya, spurred by Mpesa, even in the face of resistance by banks. Unlike with banks, transferring money between phone companies is yet to happen. Yet if we have to realize mobile transfers full potential we need seamless transfers between companies. We need regulation in place that would allow such seamless transfers, similar to what happens with calls, where telecom companies are obligated to handle calls originating outside their network. Baadaye. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matunda Nyanchama, PhD, CISSP; mnyanchama(a)aganoconsulting.com Agano Consulting Inc.; www.aganoconsulting.com; Twitter: nmatunda; Skype: okiambe ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be prepared to face ICT Security failures & know how to respond when they happen! Call: +1-888-587-1150 or info(a)aganoconsulting.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk I have a workstation…" - Anonymous ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail, including attachments, may be privileged and may contain confidential or proprietary information intended only for the addressee(s). Any other distribution, copying, use, or disclosure is unauthorized and strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and permanently delete the message, including any attachments, without making a copy. Thank you.

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LEST WE FORGET
by Ali Hussein 05 Jul '11

05 Jul '11

Hi All Every so often I come across an atricle that begs the question: WHAT IF? In this case "What if the mobile phone had remained the preserve of the Super Rich?" Lest we forget, read on:- Mobile phones: Hot new industry (Fortune, Circa 1984. How did we live without them?) - Fortune Features http://bit.ly/lU9ehm Ali Hussein - Sent from my BlackBerry®

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Kenya IGF 2011 Discussions Day 2 of 10 Mobile Payment Platforms
by Barrack Otieno 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

Dear Listers, Mobile payment platforms continue to offer tremendous amount of services and innovation, with the ability to exchange, transmit and store data and content embedded within payments systems. • What are the challenges in balancing consumer protection and regulatory oversight particularly regarding privacy and ownership of information/content and data? • What is the role of policy and regulation for successful transition to new mobile payment channels? the floor is open, feel free to contribute to previous topics as we carry on with the discussion -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno

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Re: [kictanet] Kenya IGF 2011 Discussions Day 2 of 10 Mobile Payment Platforms
by Lucy Kimani 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

Victor, Agreed public interest is paramount in any policy regulatory framework for example protection for the consumers by requiring the mobile companies to carry insurance in order to protect and promote public confidence in the Mobile payments. Similar to the FDIC here in the US that insures depositors for at least $250,000 per insured bank; the FDIC identifies, monitors and addresses risks to the insurance funds limiting the effect on the economy and in case a bank fails. Somebody correct me if I am wrong but to my surprise CBK doesn't seem to have a simillar risk management framework in place for consumer protection should a Bank fail in Kenya? LK

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Re: [kictanet] Kenya IGF 2011 Discussions Day 2 of 10 Mobile Payment Platforms
by Lucy Kimani 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

Thanks Muchiri, I just learned something new!

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Re: [kictanet] Kenya IGF 2011 Discussions Day 2 of 10 Mobile Payment Platforms
by Lucy Kimani 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

Thanks Andrea thats great info on DPFB, it is not apparent on their site and I checked a Kenyan Bank website and didnt see any such reference. I am happy that consumers deposits are covered by the DPF but it wouldnt hurt to have this clearly spelt out in the ICT Policy ie the mobile transactions are covered under the insurance held by the commercial banks holding the mobile funds. Lucy

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Fw: CCK initiates consultations on broadcasting regulatory instruments
by Walubengo J 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

fyi...from CCK. --- On Mon, 7/4/11, Wambua, Christopher <Wambua(a)cck.go.ke> wrote: From: Wambua, Christopher <Wambua(a)cck.go.ke> Subject: CCK initiates consultations on broadcasting regulatory instruments To: "Alex Gakuru" <gakuru(a)gmail.com>, "Walubengo J" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> Date: Monday, July 4, 2011, 5:24 PM Listers CCK has today initiated public consultations on two regulatory instruments for broadcasting services. The two documents - namely the draft broadcasting programme code and draft complaints handling procedure - have been published on the CCK website for comments by the public and other interested parties. The Kenya Communications Act, CAP 411A, requires CCK to prepare the broadcast programme code for use in the regulation of broadcasting services. The programme code sets the standards for the time and manner of programmes to broadcast by licensees. The law, however, allows any body of registered broadcasters to prescribe its own code subject to approval by CCK. The draft complaints handling procedure sets out the steps to be taken by broadcasters, consumers of broadcast services and CCK with respect to making, handling and resolving of broadcast related complaints. It articulates guidelines to broadcasters on how to develop their own complaints handling mechanisms for use by persons aggrieved by their broadcasts. Broadcasters are required by law to establish and maintain a procedure for handling complaints relating to broadcasting content, subject to approval by CCK. Consultations on the two documents shall be carried over a two-week period starting from July 5. The consultation documents are available at http://www.cck.go.ke/links/consultations/current.html

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Re: [kictanet] How secure is mpesa
by robert yawe 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

Hi Wachira, Seems Dr. Ndemo has thrown the ball back in your backyard so here is our response to your issues; 1. Safaricom logged onto the paybill account and made a reversal without notifying them or being requested from them, which is the bone of contention here. Please lets address that issue as you have not yet done so in your mail. 2. The charges incurred by the paybill number cannot be invoiced as if that is done it shall be deemed that services where rendered to Safaricom thus incurring taxes and with holding tax. What Safaricom need to do is issue a credit note. Please clarify this issue with your finance fellows so as to make sure that we are on the same page. I believe your response to the issues raised above will determine if we need to have a meeting with the PS as referee on Thursday. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 ________________________________ From: Kangaru Wachira Kangaru <KWachira(a)Safaricom.co.ke> To: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Mon, 4 July, 2011 13:59:10 Subject: RE: [kictanet] How secure is mpesa Robert, Thank you for your feedback. We would like to take this opportunity to provide clarity on the reversal process and the steps we taken to ensure the integrity of the system and process while securing subscriberâ€™s cash. Safaricom does not initiate the reversal but in our effort to assist customers who make genuine mistakes, we contact the PayBill partner with a request that they reverse the entry, which they are expected to do after establishing, on their side, that it is indeed a genuine error. Where a customer contacts us that they have paid to the wrong number, we follow the below process; 1. The customer is given the contact numbers for the partner they paid in error to request for a reversal since as Safaricom, we cannot tell if the customer genuinely paid to the wrong client. 2. If the customer is referred back to Safaricom, we contact the partner through an e-mail requesting for assistance. 3. The PayBill partner then reverses the transaction by sending the money back to the customer. 4. If the PayBill partner is unable to reverse the transaction, we reverse it back on their behalf after we receive the instructions from them. The challenge that PayBill partners have been facing is that the charges incurred by them after the reversal to the customer is not reversible. However, we recognize the inconvenience this may pose and our Product Development team is looking into this with a view to come up with a long-term solution. In the meantime, we request our partners to invoice for the value after which we refund them. On a wider scale, we are carrying out the BIG SIM (phone look-up) education to encourage subscribers to save PayBill numbers on their SIMs to avoid such errors. We have also introduced a service that allows our subscribers, on dialing *234#, to look up and verify PayBill account numbers. All this is actively done in keeping with our promise to give the best experience to our customers in all facets of our operations. We are happy to be part of this discussion and appreciate the feedback we are getting. We reiterate our commitment to continue reviewing our processes to improve service offerings. Regards, __________________________________________________ Wachira Kangâ€™aru Public Relations Manager | Safaricom | Telephone: +254 722 003973 | Mobile: +254 722 574424 __________________________________________________ Wachira Kangâ€™aru Manager, Public Relations| Safaricom | Telephone: +254 722 003973 | Mobile: +254 722 574424 From:kictanet-bounces+wkangaru=gmail.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+wkangaru=gmail.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of robert yawe Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 9:13 AM To: wkangaru(a)gmail.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] How secure is mpesa Hi, I am writing this post with a heavy heart as it will likely reverse gains that have been made in the ecommerce and ebanking/mbanking environment. A client of mine, who shall remain unnamed for now in typical Kenya fashion, runs a site that accepts payments using the mpesa paybill system. Due to the close similarity in various paybill number there has been a tendency for people to send money to the account erroneously. As the errors have grown over time the client has had to come up with a way to manage the reversals so us to reduce the impact on their operations. Last week Safaricom accessed the paybill number's account and initiated reversals without notifying them. How sure is Safaricom that the person who indicated that they had sent the money to the wrong number had not already consumed services? As the post master general in waiting I am concerned that such action would have negative effect on ecommerce as reversal of a transaction based on the request of one party will definitely harm the other. The reversed transaction still incurs the owner of the paybill number a cost that is not reversed, this issue was previously raised with the former MD of Safaricom Mr. Michael Joseph who instructed one of the managers to look into and resolve. It has been over 2 years and the issue is yet to be concluded. This action also indicates the issue of Safaricom mistreating SME organisations, if the error was made with the KPLC or Co-Op Bank accounts would the staff have the audacity to make direct reversals on the system? I believe the term for such action is blatant impunity that can only be practised by a monopolistic player in an industry. With a heavy heart I send this post hoping that it will act as a wake up call both to Safaricom and the regulators (CCK & Central Bank) that we need better control and monitoring of the money transfer market otherwise we stand to scare the public which would result in its slow down. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 ________________________________ From:Eugene Lidede (Synergy) [mailto: eugene(a)synergy.co.ke ] Sent: 04 July 2011 09:05 To: robertyawe(a)synergy.co.ke Subject: M-PESA irregularities Robert, As we spoke; i) Safaricom is now directly manipulating transactions in our M-PESA account without our consent or any manner of reference to us. Is this proper? (see red circle in picture below) ii) They never refund monies deducted from us resulting from the said reversals despite the fact that we are not party to initiating the â€œwrong paymentsâ€� (see blue circle). These are wrong payments intended for co-op bankâ€™s 400200 but instead sent to our 400100. iii) This issue has been outstanding since October last year during Michael Josephs days. Safaricom has refused to sort it out. Several emails to their M-PESA department regarding this issue have gone unanswered even those specifically addressed to the referenced Caroline lady. iv) With the deteriorating relationship, it might be time we considered PesaPal, ZAP and Orange money seriously as a payment platform for our retail subscribers Regards Eugene Lidede | Chief Technology Officer | Synergy Systems Limited 6th Floor, Phoenix House, Kenyatta Ave. | Cell: +254 721 289497/476367 | Tel: +254 20 2113163 live.mystocks.co.ke | www.propertykenya.com | www.mystocks.co.ke Outstanding Online Investment Content Provider 2009â€“ Computer Society of Kenya ________________________________ Note: All emails sent from Safaricom Limited are subject to Safaricom’s Email Terms & Conditions. Please click here to read the policy. ________________________________

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