You just can not stop innovation. You either work with it or against it. The Data Driven Revolution is here.

The fact of the matter is OTA or no OTA. People did not call on cellular networks because of cost. They call when they need to, and its the same case - nothing has changed. Reducing OTA does not mean everyone will call more. It means they will continue calling the same way they did. If any of you have used OTA you may notice just how lousy the call quality is, issues ranging from call delay, call break ups, etc.

Wise are those who will embrace the "data revolution". As did those who were the early adropters of the "mobile revolution". Our local telephone service provider was just not up to the game with the rising development of Mobile Telephony. Who is to say history won't repeat itself?

On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 3:53 PM, Barrack Otieno via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Interesting developements Mose. At the end of the day we should not punish innovation.

Regards

On Jan 27, 2016 1:21 PM, "Mose Karanja via kictanet" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
South Africa - 26 Jan.
The Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services organised a public briefing on the Over-The-Top (OTT) policy and regulatory options.
Internet Connection Providers (MTN, Vodafone….) claim OTT services don’t contribute financially to the local networks, don’t pay taxes, are not focused on consumer security. Their proposal: Regulate the providers just like the telcos are to equal the playing field.

The OTT providers: Google (Hangouts) Facebook (Messenger, WhatsApp) and Microsoft (Skype) countered these claims: Google said they pay taxes to the SA government (this is not even a matter of opinion. It is either they pay or not), Facebook pointed to the symbiotic relationship that exists between them and the Telcos seeing the data consumed while using the OTTs is clearly revenue for the telcos. On security, FB gains revenue from advertisement, not selling user data. Microsoft: Skype helps minimize communication costs for consumers. Innovators and new entrants to the market benefit more by using these services than the companies do in revenue from Skype, WhatsApp and such. Data segments in the Telcos are the fastest growing revenue bases. They should thank the OTTs for this.

The Consumer: I would love to hear what consumer groups in SA had to say to the Parliamentary committee, if they were there in the first place.

Clearly OTTs have slashed communication prices which ISPs have for long managed. Now that 'the times are a changing’ it is quite immoral, I dare say, for the telcos to lobby regulators help them deal with lost revenue (I prefer missed innovation).
It is more like car makers asking fuel companies to compensate them since they are making profits from their products. It doesn’t work like that. Unfortunately, we this battle is seen as ISPs versus the OTT providers and not between Consumers and ISPs, the regulators might just forget who they are out to protect.

Morocco suspended VOIP this month on this principle, Rwanda is thinking along those lines. Kenyan Telcos are thinking about it. We are in for a real show.

For more info: http://ewn.co.za/2016/01/26/Parly-cautioned-against-regulating-OTT-services

---
Moses Karanja | @Mose_Karanja | PGP: 0x1529552F

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