Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] Kenya's state-owned telecoms operator goes mobile
Telkom is a licenced operator using fixed wireless technology. The key word here is fixed. On the same argument if the 'true mobile' operators want to obtain 3G and 3.5G frequencies the regulator has a duty to ensure that the government is not deprived of much needed revenue by holding a competitive tender or auction for the 3G frequencies which have fetched hundreds of millions of dollars in other African countries. ---------- https://www.ntra.gov.eg/english/News_NewsDetails.asp?PID=36&ID=94 Vodafone Egypt have agreed to pay LE3.34bn (US$584m) + 2.4% of total revenues as a licence fee for 3G spectrum. Vodafone Egypt recently declared an annual turnover of LE6.8bn and revealed that approximately 22% (LE1.5bn) of this will be Free Cash Flow. However, it is not as much as the third player, Etisalat, agreed to pay LE16.7bn (US$2.9bn) for a 2G/3G licence which was equivalent to 3.4% of Egypt GDP. ---------- It is indicative that at least one mobile provider has indicated that it is already using such technology, which per their original GSM license (Annex A) is not catered for. What payment if any has been received by the commission on behalf of the government for these frequencies by the mobile operator and for the issuance of a new 3G licence? I am certain that TKL has met its licence obligations and thus is a bonafide operator, secondly TKL holds a licence that allows it to provide these services nationwide in addition to its basket of licences. If the TKL's competitors want to demand that TKL pay fees for a licence (which it already has) then they should similarly be prepared to pay licence fees after competing in a tender to be able to operate 3G networks. Mike On 7/20/07, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't think Telkom goes mobile is a problem & its never about competition, the problem is with the regulatory infrastructure in place to be honored, that is if all mobile operators have to pay a mobile license, then all have to pay a mobile license without any exceptions. If all mobile service providers are to pay VAT and exercise duty, then this has to be across the board.
rgds, Okech
"Competition is healthy. If other people complain, they should know that Kenyans now have a choice," Telkom Kenya Chief Market Officer Bernard Rubia told Reuters in an interview.
Rubia says it was "debatable" whether partnering with an outside investor was necessary for Telkom to turn a profit. Job cuts that will downsize Telkom to
4,000 employees from 18,000 by September are already realising savings of 250 million shillings ($3.7 million) a month against 1.2 billion in billings. "We should be given a five-year window to prove ourselves," he said, adding shares should be sold to the public in the meantime.
================
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL19935122.html
Kenya's state-owned telecoms operator goes mobile Thu 19 Jul 2007, 13:40 GMT
By C. Bryson Hull
NAIROBI, July 19 (Reuters) - State-owned Telkom Kenya is making an aggressive foray into the east African country's wireless mobile and data markets, aiming for rebirth as a sleek operator before privatisation due to start later this
year.
The loss-making state company, which has a monopoly on landlines, earlier this month rolled out the lowest mobile phone tariff in Kenya and stepped up advertising to bring in customers to its brand-new wireless network.
That has sparked complaints from the other two mobile operators in Kenya, market leader Safaricom and Celtel Kenya, who say the state company has an unfair regulatory advantage.
"Competition is healthy. If other people complain, they should know that Kenyans now have a choice," Telkom Kenya Chief Market Officer Bernard Rubia told Reuters in an interview.
"And they will choose based on reliability, consistency and affordability."
Telkom may seem an unlikely choice -- customers have long complained
inefficiency, corruption and monopoly control of landlines have kept Telkom's prices high and service poor, but it is now in the middle of a major restructuring.
And Kenyans are quick to go for the best deal. It is not uncommon for someone to have multiple phone lines to take advantage of the cheapest rate or to avoid the steep expense of calling from one network to the other.
On a trial run since September, the company's mobile subsidiary Telkom Wireless so far has 150,000 subscribers and is adding an average of 1,000 per day, Rubia said.
"Our target is by the end of June next year we will have hit our 1 million mark," he said adding the average customers spends 800 Kenya shillings ($11.92) a month.
That is dwarfed by the 6.8 million Safaricom has out of an estimated 8-9 million users in the nation of 36 million people.
BANKING ON CDMA
Telkom has rolled out a CDMA network to about 70 percent of the country to compete with Safaricom and Celtel, which operate a GSM network like most mobile companies in Africa.
Rubia says the choice of CDMA was to lure Kenyan customers who get irritated by congestion on the GSM networks.
"One of our towers is equivalent to four of theirs in terms of capacity," he
said.
A second benefit is to cash in on its data capabilities, which are faster than GSM. By September, Rubia says Telkom will offer EVDO, a mobile broadband data technology.
But like other Internet data providers in Kenya, they will not be able to use the maximum capacity until the country gets a fibre optic connection to
Internet backbone.
Currently it gets it via expensive satellite links that limit bandwidth and market growth. Rubia says he expects at least one of two projects to give Kenya a wired link to the outside world to be ready by "the back end of next year."
Telkom Wireless customers will be able to access EVDO via mobile handsets and also wireless desktop phones.
The latter often serve as Internet links in rural areas where there is little or no infrastructure -- and where mobile operators say there are still huge untapped profits in Africa.
The government wants to sell a 51 percent stake in Telkom to a strategic partner, with an eye on an IPO that would eventually sell 30 percent to
On Thursday July 19 2007 21:38:48 Mike Theuri wrote: that the the
public. Proposals are due to be opened by early November.
Rubia says it was "debatable" whether partnering with an outside investor was necessary for Telkom to turn a profit. Job cuts that will downsize Telkom to
4,000 employees from 18,000 by September are already realising savings of 250 million shillings ($3.7 million) a month against 1.2 billion in billings.
"We should be given a five-year window to prove ourselves," he said, adding shares should be sold to the public in the meantime.
Dear Mr. Theuri, The Government has not been deprived any revenue here. If you remember sometime last year the Regulator encouraged operators to pilot Broadband in the Mobile Telephony after which each are to pay for the 3G frequencies. The piloting period is not over yet and we all are looking forward to the new fee. Thanks for your alertness. Regards Bitange Ndemo.
Telkom is a licenced operator using fixed wireless technology. The key word here is fixed. On the same argument if the 'true mobile' operators want to obtain 3G and 3.5G frequencies the regulator has a duty to ensure that the government is not deprived of much needed revenue by holding a competitive tender or auction for the 3G frequencies which have fetched hundreds of millions of dollars in other African countries.
---------- https://www.ntra.gov.eg/english/News_NewsDetails.asp?PID=36&ID=94
Vodafone Egypt have agreed to pay LE3.34bn (US$584m) + 2.4% of total revenues as a licence fee for 3G spectrum. Vodafone Egypt recently declared an annual turnover of LE6.8bn and revealed that approximately 22% (LE1.5bn) of this will be Free Cash Flow.
However, it is not as much as the third player, Etisalat, agreed to pay LE16.7bn (US$2.9bn) for a 2G/3G licence which was equivalent to 3.4% of Egypt GDP. ----------
It is indicative that at least one mobile provider has indicated that it is already using such technology, which per their original GSM license (Annex A) is not catered for. What payment if any has been received by the commission on behalf of the government for these frequencies by the mobile operator and for the issuance of a new 3G licence? I am certain that TKL has met its licence obligations and thus is a bonafide operator, secondly TKL holds a licence that allows it to provide these services nationwide in addition to its basket of licences. If the TKL's competitors want to demand that TKL pay fees for a licence (which it already has) then they should similarly be prepared to pay licence fees after competing in a tender to be able to operate 3G networks.
Mike
On 7/20/07, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't think Telkom goes mobile is a problem & its never about competition, the problem is with the regulatory infrastructure in place to be honored, that is if all mobile operators have to pay a mobile license, then all have to pay a mobile license without any exceptions. If all mobile service providers are to pay VAT and exercise duty, then this has to be across the board.
rgds, Okech
"Competition is healthy. If other people complain, they should know
Kenyans now have a choice," Telkom Kenya Chief Market Officer Bernard Rubia told Reuters in an interview.
Rubia says it was "debatable" whether partnering with an outside investor was necessary for Telkom to turn a profit. Job cuts that will downsize Telkom to
4,000 employees from 18,000 by September are already realising savings of 250 million shillings ($3.7 million) a month against 1.2 billion in billings. "We should be given a five-year window to prove ourselves," he said, adding shares should be sold to the public in the meantime.
================
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL19935122.html
Kenya's state-owned telecoms operator goes mobile Thu 19 Jul 2007, 13:40 GMT
By C. Bryson Hull
NAIROBI, July 19 (Reuters) - State-owned Telkom Kenya is making an aggressive foray into the east African country's wireless mobile and data markets, aiming for rebirth as a sleek operator before privatisation due to start later this
year.
The loss-making state company, which has a monopoly on landlines, earlier this month rolled out the lowest mobile phone tariff in Kenya and stepped up advertising to bring in customers to its brand-new wireless network.
That has sparked complaints from the other two mobile operators in Kenya, market leader Safaricom and Celtel Kenya, who say the state company has an unfair regulatory advantage.
"Competition is healthy. If other people complain, they should know
Kenyans now have a choice," Telkom Kenya Chief Market Officer Bernard Rubia told Reuters in an interview.
"And they will choose based on reliability, consistency and affordability."
Telkom may seem an unlikely choice -- customers have long complained
inefficiency, corruption and monopoly control of landlines have kept Telkom's prices high and service poor, but it is now in the middle of a major restructuring.
And Kenyans are quick to go for the best deal. It is not uncommon for someone to have multiple phone lines to take advantage of the cheapest rate or to avoid the steep expense of calling from one network to the other.
On a trial run since September, the company's mobile subsidiary Telkom Wireless so far has 150,000 subscribers and is adding an average of 1,000 per day, Rubia said.
"Our target is by the end of June next year we will have hit our 1 million mark," he said adding the average customers spends 800 Kenya shillings ($11.92) a month.
That is dwarfed by the 6.8 million Safaricom has out of an estimated 8-9 million users in the nation of 36 million people.
BANKING ON CDMA
Telkom has rolled out a CDMA network to about 70 percent of the country to compete with Safaricom and Celtel, which operate a GSM network like most mobile companies in Africa.
Rubia says the choice of CDMA was to lure Kenyan customers who get irritated by congestion on the GSM networks.
"One of our towers is equivalent to four of theirs in terms of capacity," he
said.
A second benefit is to cash in on its data capabilities, which are faster than GSM. By September, Rubia says Telkom will offer EVDO, a mobile broadband data technology.
But like other Internet data providers in Kenya, they will not be able to use the maximum capacity until the country gets a fibre optic connection to
Internet backbone.
Currently it gets it via expensive satellite links that limit bandwidth and market growth. Rubia says he expects at least one of two projects to give Kenya a wired link to the outside world to be ready by "the back end of next year."
Telkom Wireless customers will be able to access EVDO via mobile handsets and also wireless desktop phones.
The latter often serve as Internet links in rural areas where there is little or no infrastructure -- and where mobile operators say there are still huge untapped profits in Africa.
The government wants to sell a 51 percent stake in Telkom to a strategic partner, with an eye on an IPO that would eventually sell 30 percent to
On Thursday July 19 2007 21:38:48 Mike Theuri wrote: that that that the the
public. Proposals are due to be opened by early November.
Rubia says it was "debatable" whether partnering with an outside investor was necessary for Telkom to turn a profit. Job cuts that will downsize Telkom to
4,000 employees from 18,000 by September are already realising savings of 250 million shillings ($3.7 million) a month against 1.2 billion in billings.
"We should be given a five-year window to prove ourselves," he said, adding shares should be sold to the public in the meantime.
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Dear Dr. Ndemo, Thank you for your response. I am glad to hear that the government is still anticipating to gain from the much needed revenue the sale of the 3G spectrum will generate. I trust that the Regulator will seek to obtain the fair market rate for this spectrum while factoring in the unprecedented return on investment that 2G spectrum has generated thus far in the country while balancing the providers goals. Regards, Mike Theuri On 7/21/07, bitange@jambo.co.ke <bitange@jambo.co.ke> wrote:
Dear Mr. Theuri, The Government has not been deprived any revenue here. If you remember sometime last year the Regulator encouraged operators to pilot Broadband in the Mobile Telephony after which each are to pay for the 3G frequencies. The piloting period is not over yet and we all are looking forward to the new fee.
Thanks for your alertness.
Regards
Bitange Ndemo.
Telkom is a licenced operator using fixed wireless technology. The key word here is fixed. On the same argument if the 'true mobile' operators want to obtain 3G and 3.5G frequencies the regulator has a duty to ensure that the government is not deprived of much needed revenue by holding a competitive tender or auction for the 3G frequencies which have fetched hundreds of millions of dollars in other African countries.
---------- https://www.ntra.gov.eg/english/News_NewsDetails.asp?PID=36&ID=94
Vodafone Egypt have agreed to pay LE3.34bn (US$584m) + 2.4% of total revenues as a licence fee for 3G spectrum. Vodafone Egypt recently declared an annual turnover of LE6.8bn and revealed that approximately 22% (LE1.5bn) of this will be Free Cash Flow.
However, it is not as much as the third player, Etisalat, agreed to pay LE16.7bn (US$2.9bn) for a 2G/3G licence which was equivalent to 3.4% of Egypt GDP. ----------
It is indicative that at least one mobile provider has indicated that it is already using such technology, which per their original GSM license (Annex A) is not catered for. What payment if any has been received by the commission on behalf of the government for these frequencies by the mobile operator and for the issuance of a new 3G licence? I am certain that TKL has met its licence obligations and thus is a bonafide operator, secondly TKL holds a licence that allows it to provide these services nationwide in addition to its basket of licences. If the TKL's competitors want to demand that TKL pay fees for a licence (which it already has) then they should similarly be prepared to pay licence fees after competing in a tender to
be able to operate 3G networks.
Mike
On 7/20/07, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't think Telkom goes mobile is a problem & its never about competition, the problem is with the regulatory infrastructure in place to be honored, that is if all mobile operators have to pay a mobile license, then all have to pay a mobile license without any exceptions. If all mobile service providers are to pay VAT and exercise duty, then this has to be across the board.
rgds, Okech
"Competition is healthy. If other people complain, they should know
On Thursday July 19 2007 21:38:48 Mike Theuri wrote: that
Kenyans now have a choice," Telkom Kenya Chief Market Officer Bernard Rubia told Reuters in an interview.
Rubia says it was "debatable" whether partnering with an outside investor was necessary for Telkom to turn a profit. Job cuts that will downsize Telkom to
4,000 employees from 18,000 by September are already realising
savings
250 million shillings ($3.7 million) a month against 1.2 billion in billings. "We should be given a five-year window to prove ourselves," he said, adding shares should be sold to the public in the meantime.
================
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL19935122.html
Kenya's state-owned telecoms operator goes mobile Thu 19 Jul 2007, 13:40 GMT
By C. Bryson Hull
NAIROBI, July 19 (Reuters) - State-owned Telkom Kenya is making an aggressive foray into the east African country's wireless mobile and data markets, aiming for rebirth as a sleek operator before privatisation due to start later this
year.
The loss-making state company, which has a monopoly on landlines, earlier this month rolled out the lowest mobile phone tariff in Kenya and stepped up advertising to bring in customers to its brand-new wireless network.
That has sparked complaints from the other two mobile operators in Kenya, market leader Safaricom and Celtel Kenya, who say the state company has an unfair regulatory advantage.
"Competition is healthy. If other people complain, they should know
Kenyans now have a choice," Telkom Kenya Chief Market Officer Bernard Rubia told Reuters in an interview.
"And they will choose based on reliability, consistency and affordability."
Telkom may seem an unlikely choice -- customers have long complained
inefficiency, corruption and monopoly control of landlines have kept Telkom's prices high and service poor, but it is now in the middle of a major restructuring.
And Kenyans are quick to go for the best deal. It is not uncommon for someone to have multiple phone lines to take advantage of the cheapest rate or to avoid the steep expense of calling from one network to the other.
On a trial run since September, the company's mobile subsidiary Telkom Wireless so far has 150,000 subscribers and is adding an average of 1,000 per day, Rubia said.
"Our target is by the end of June next year we will have hit our 1 million mark," he said adding the average customers spends 800 Kenya shillings ($11.92) a month.
That is dwarfed by the 6.8 million Safaricom has out of an estimated 8-9 million users in the nation of 36 million people.
BANKING ON CDMA
Telkom has rolled out a CDMA network to about 70 percent of the country to compete with Safaricom and Celtel, which operate a GSM network like most mobile companies in Africa.
Rubia says the choice of CDMA was to lure Kenyan customers who get irritated by congestion on the GSM networks.
"One of our towers is equivalent to four of theirs in terms of capacity," he
said.
A second benefit is to cash in on its data capabilities, which are faster than GSM. By September, Rubia says Telkom will offer EVDO, a mobile broadband data technology.
But like other Internet data providers in Kenya, they will not be able to use the maximum capacity until the country gets a fibre optic connection to
Internet backbone.
Currently it gets it via expensive satellite links that limit bandwidth and market growth. Rubia says he expects at least one of two projects to give Kenya a wired link to the outside world to be ready by "the back end of next year."
Telkom Wireless customers will be able to access EVDO via mobile handsets and also wireless desktop phones.
The latter often serve as Internet links in rural areas where there is little or no infrastructure -- and where mobile operators say there are still huge untapped profits in Africa.
The government wants to sell a 51 percent stake in Telkom to a strategic partner, with an eye on an IPO that would eventually sell 30 percent to
of that that the the
public. Proposals are due to be opened by early November.
Rubia says it was "debatable" whether partnering with an outside investor was necessary for Telkom to turn a profit. Job cuts that will downsize Telkom to
4,000 employees from 18,000 by September are already realising savings of 250 million shillings ($3.7 million) a month against 1.2 billion in billings.
"We should be given a five-year window to prove ourselves," he said, adding shares should be sold to the public in the meantime.
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Mike Theuri