Kibaki stops further drop in mobile call charges

The fee at the heart of rivalry

• On May 18, the President met telecoms operators and later directed that a reduction in termination charges be stopped.
• Safaricom andTelkom Kenya had opposed plans to reduce the charges citing possible loss of jobs.
• Airtel had pushed for the reduction, saying it had based its entire business model on the assumption that the cost would come down to benefit consumers.

Airtel first made the proposal three months ago arguing that it would reduce costs to consumers and enable recipients of cash transfers to draw them from their rivals’ outlets.

Though one can send money across the networks, the transfer process remains complex and costs 10 times more than the cost of sending money within a network, and has become one more obstacle to consumers of mobile phone service moving from one network to another.

mokuttah@ke.nationmedia.com