On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Michael Joseph <MJoseph@safaricom.co.ke> wrote:

KPLC invited all licensed operators to bid for the rights to access the surplus pairs in the cable. A reserve price was set for both leased and IRU models. A number of operators responded and so far only 3 have signed contracts – Safaricom, Wananchi and Jamii Telecom.

There is no exclusivity as can be seen.

This is great news, thanks very much for the clarification.

I wish the author of the piece had mentioned this, as well as the reserve prices, which would be useful to know.

This is a more thorough treatment of the story:

http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=62171

I do not know which operators did not bid but I do know that other operators are still in talks with KPLC. Safaricom have only taken 1 pair out of the 12 available.

or 18 if you believe the above link. ;-/