Telkom Kenya raises stakes in data market with Sh1 per MB plan Telkom Kenya on Wednesday revised its Internet charges downwards, raising the stakes in the battle for control of the data market which is expected to be the next frontier of revenue growth for telecoms firms. Subscribers will pay Sh1 per megabyte (MB), one of the lowest Internet tariffs currently on offer from a telecom firm. Previously, the company charged from Sh2 or more per MB depending on the Internet bundle a customer opted for. The Sh1 per MB rate will will apply for buyers of the 4 gigabyte (GB) bundle which will be priced at Sh3,900. Other providers of low-cost Internet are Access Kenya, which charges Sh1 per MB for its home Internet services. Mickael Ghossein, CEO Telkom Kenya, said the price cut is meant to reposition the company in the data market in which it was a key player before the liberalisation of the ICT sector ushered in competition that has since eaten into the firm’s market share. Rival mobile operators have reacted to Telkom’s move by acknowledging the increase in competition in the sector. “Of course we expect a lot of competition and tariffs will have to fall to reflect this. In the long run, however, you have to consider the issue of customer experience and you also need a critical subscriber base to create a sustainable business model,” said Chris Tiffin, Safaricom’s Chief Financial Officer. Telkom is targeting both corporate and individual clients with the reduced prices. The regulatory stance taken by the government recently may also lead to a reduction in revenues gleaned for the voice market. Last month, prime minister Raila Odinga ordered a review of mobile call charges saying they were too high and not a true reflection of international trends. As Telkom was announcing its new charges, Safaricom and Equity bank were also unveiling a partnership in which the bank will offer loans to the public for the purchase of laptops while the mobile phone operator will supply Internet modems to the laptop owners. (Source: Business Daily) On 31 Oct 2009, at 04:01, kai wulff wrote:

And I get complaints about the charges in Kenya …

There is another confusion ..

Some people confuse packages (like 1GBYTE) with throughput like 1Mbps …

If you have 1Mbps duplex you can receive:

1 Megabyte in 8 seconds

7.5 Megabyte in a minute

450 Megabyte in an hour

10800 Megabyte in a day

326700 Megabyte (319 Gigabyte) in a month (30.25 days)

Since you can send the same amount you could have a volume of 638 Gigabyte with a 1Mbps pipe …

So if you take 1Mbps at 600 USD you will arrive for a package of 10Gigabyte at less than 1 USD …..

Von: kictanet-bounces+kai.wulff=kdn.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+kai.wulff=kdn.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] Im Auftrag von Brian Munyao Longwe Gesendet: Saturday, October 31, 2009 10:47 An: kai.wulff@kdn.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Betreff: [kictanet] Tanzania first to lower internet rates? huh?

TTCL drops pricing to 1MB for $2415/month? and that is low? Read on.....

First East African country to lower internet rates? hmmmm..... Tanzania First to Lower Internet Rates

Tanzania Telecommunication Company Ltd customers will from this month enjoy a 50 per cent cut in Internet charges, making Tanzania the first East African country to lower Internet charges. TTCL chief executive officer Said Amour Said, told The EastAfrican that the lowering of charges follows the firm's connecting to the Seacom submarine fibre optic cable.

"TTCL has reduced its Internet prices effective from October 1, in order to pass on this cost saving benefit to the end users, and the high customer expectations of reduced costs on Internet services have finally been met," he said.

The new prices will see high volume Internet users including banks, large businesses and corporations, government agencies and other institutions enjoying a substantial Internet bandwidth cost reduction as customers will get the same capacity of bandwidth at a third the current prices.

Under the new structure, a client who buys 1Mbps of Internet capacity for Tsh9.2 million ($7,000) will now buy the same capacity for just Tsh3.14 million ($2,415).

For small and medium businesses like cyber cafes, the price has been slashed by 50 per cent.

According to Mr Said, customers who were buying 5GB for $200 (Tsh200,000) will now buy 10GB for the same amount of money, and that all Internet subscribers in this category would continue to get high speed of up to 4Mbps through their TTCL fixed lines.

According to the new tariff, non-commercial ordinary clients will enjoy a new package with unlimited use for a monthly price of Tsh45,000 ($ 43) with a speed of up to 256Kbps.

"It is an ideal service mostly for the common man because it is affordable and guarantees continuous usage," explained Said.

(Source: The East African)

-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet

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