@Wash, you are wrong on Price obligations for the Regulator. Check out
http://www.cck.go.ke/regulations/downloads/Kenya-Information-Communications-Act-Final.pdfPart III, Clause on Telco Services,It says that the Regulator CCK Shall and I quote.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the
Commission shall—
(a) protect the interests of all users of telecommunication
services in Kenya with respect to the prices charged for and
the quality and variety of such services;
The bigger issue really is WHEN should the regulator intervene rather than IF they should because clearly Pricing of Telco services is something they are mandated to keep tabs on. Basically the best approach is to let Competition (Law of Supply and Demand) settle the Price issue and Intervene only when
there is market failure i.e. Dominant players overcharging consumers.
Which brings in the second question, what then is that fair-charge, above which the Regulator can or should intervene? That is the million dollar question, since in a free market economy what is fair for Mr. Moneybags in Runda is quite different from what is fair for Mr. Sufferer living somewhere in Kibera slums. An approximate solution is to calculate the average monthly cost of basic internet access (as advertised by Operators) and get that as a % of the average incomes. For the Kenyan case you are looking at about 3,000Ksh for a basic 1MB link per month. If we take this as a fraction of the average national incomes of Ksh 8,000 (100USD) we get that Kenyans are paying 3000/8000 or 37% of their income to internet/communication services. ITU statistics puts it at about 30% in 2012. Either way, it is still above our counterparts in Mauritius, SA or
Egypt who sprend between 5-10% of their average incomes on Internet/Communication Services.
The best regulatory intervention however may not be Price-Caps as we know happening in the energy/fuel markets where the regulator issues fuel prices every two weeks or so and operators must adopt them or else. Perhaps regulator should promote competition in more ways than just increasing number of players. We need to see more unbundling of services where incumbent players are encouraged to share/lease the most of the expensive infrastructure to new entrants. Surely Nairobi does not need 4-5 players digging fiber to the same homes in this day and age. We probably need to see more alternate ways of accessing internet such as through smart/cable TV (e.g Triple Play). We also need to see the regulator finally releasing the 5Ghz spectrum that Operators have been crying for as another way of opening up a new competition battle ground for
communication/internet services. We may want to see what the Regulator does with the Universal Service Fund, recently commissioned, in terms of providing affordable communication to the marginalised communities.
Some of these interventions maybe more long-lasting than trying to VUKA from one Operator to the other.
walu.
The regulator:
1. Issues Licenses
2. Determines Interconnection fees
3. Lords over the Telcos stopping them from "tabia mbaya" - like unfair competition
There is nowhere where the consumer surfaces in the mind of the regulator, if you ask me.
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