Hi, I write this because I’m a consumer of the services of most telcos including the two discussed here (Zain and Safaricom). As a consumer, all I need is to get a quality service at a low cost. Competition is one way of achieving this and as such the on going competition is welcomed. As Armstrong puts it[1], a good competition policy is one that delivers well-functioning markets, something which requires both a strong supply side and demand side.  Vigorous competition provides best protection to consumers requiring only minimal legal consumer protection. However, in some markets consumers do not always obtain a good deal, even when substantial competition is present, and in such cases additional policies to aid consumers have a role to play. Competition may fail to work well due to imperfect information to consumers and higher advertisement cost. From the foregoing, advertisement cost is fair to all telcos. But we need fair competition for consumer benefit. In my opinion however, the above advert (google ad) isn’t a fair attack on Safaricom. Each telcos is know to consumers vide some de facto colour blends and all will agree green is Safaricom, black and orange for Telkom Kenya i.e….I get a shop painted green….I quickly think of Safaricom. I get orange and black shop I think Telkom Kenya etc. In general, we need fair competition. We need quality services. Unfair competition will not only make the telco industry strained and worthless but also expose consumers to poor quality. My c2 cents [1] http://else.econ.ucl.ac.uk/papers/uploaded/295.pdf Regards,  Okech JM My blog --- On Sat, 9/11/10, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo@gmail.com> wrote: From: Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Zain Adverts against Safaricom (on Google Ads) To: okechjr@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010, 8:35 AM On Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 2:53 PM, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> wrote: Is it ethical for Zain to use a green SIM card in it's online adverts (google ads) as per the attached screenshot? i.e. "Is your SIM eating too much money?" Shouldn't they just sell their service instead of a constant anti-Safaricom pitch?..inspite of any issues customers may have vs. safaricom rates? Does Safaricom have a monopoly on color "green"? -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "If you have nothing good to say about someone, just shut up!."                -- Lucky Dube -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: okechjr@yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/okechjr%40yahoo.com

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