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CA says Airtel and Safaricom are on level play ground

WANGUSI

Communications Authority of Kenya director-general Francis Wangusi. PHOTO | FILE

The telecommunications sector regulator has defended itself against claims made by Airtel accusing it of favouring Safaricom on issuance of 4G frequency spectrum and dragging its feet on enforcement of market dominance rules.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) director general Francis Wangusi on Monday said he was not aware of any difficulties that Airtel had faced with the frequency spectrum (800Mhz) that it was allocated to test-pilot its 4G network.

The CA also said that Airtel should not blame the regulatory environment “for inability” to keep up with the competition.

The ICT Secretary Fred Matiang’i said Airtel should instead seek solutions to any challenges facing it from the right offices, “instead of engagement from the streets.” 
Airtel last week threatened to exit the Kenyan market if new regulations are not passed to curb Safaricom’s dominance.

“We have spectrum in the 1800Mhz and we have even offered to give Airtel the spectrum to rollout the network on a pilot basis. They want us to give them the spectrum frequency for free, which is not possible,” said Mr Wangusi in Nairobi on Monday.

“So if they go to the streets to talk about spectrum, we (the regulator) don’t know if they have any problem on the frequency.”

Airtel last week took issue with a recent notice by the regulator indicating that Safaricom will be given a licence to roll out high-speed (4G) Internet countrywide.

READ: Airtel threatens Kenya exit over Safaricom 'dominance'

The notice was published on August 19 and gives stakeholders a month to submit their objections, if any. Airtel said giving Safaricom the 4G permit ahead of other telcos would “tie” consumers to one service provider.

“We do not agree with the way the valuable 800HZ spectrum was allocated to the dominant player to deploy the 4G network without a clear agreement with other players on commercial terms,” Airtel’s chief executive Adil El Youssefi said in a media interview last week.

The CA has stated that Safaricom’s 4G licence will be issued on condition that it is shared with other operators.  It also indicated that 30 per cent of Safaricom’s 4G spectrum would be shared with other telcos and that the leading operator will have to pay a license fee of $56.25 million (about Sh5.6 billion) before it is issued with the 8OOMHz frequencies.

Mr Wangusi also defended the regulator from claims that the regulatory environment is tilted in favour of Safaricom, saying that if Airtel wants to exit the market they are free to do so but should not blame it on the regulatory environment.

“We cannot pull someone’s leg from running just because we want another person to run after and catch up with him. Airtel have a very good space to run. If they want to pull out of the market because they can’t run faster, yes it is okay, but I don’t think it is because of the regulatory environment that is preventing them from doing well,” Mr Wangusi said on Monday.

Mr Youssefi  had said that  “anti-competitive behaviour” by the market leader had condemned competitors to losses, claiming that it also contributed to the exit by Essar — Yu network operator — as well as the expected pull out by France Telecom from Telkom Kenya.

“We have been trying for over five years and have not made one dollar in profit. Airtel is likely to exit Kenya if the market structure is not addressed in terms of dominance,” said Mr Youssefi.