CA seeks 14 days to respond to suit by US-based telco
What you need to know:
The firm provides international gateway services (IGS), through which people abroad can make calls to Kenya at relatively lower rates.
The firm says Airtel is demanding Sh20 per minute while Safaricom and Telkom Kenya’s Orange want Sh10 per minute for international voice traffic terminating on their networks instead of Sh0.90 stipulated by regulations.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has asked the High Court to allow it time to respond to a suit seeking to compel it to intervene in a dispute between a US-based telecommunications firm and Kenya’s three mobile network operators.
The CA Wednesday asked Justice George Odunga to allow it 14 days to respond to the suit filed by Geonet Communications which has a Kenyan subsidiary.
Geonet has sued the regulator for dismissing its complaint against Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom Kenya over interconnection fees.
The firm provides international gateway services (IGS), through which people abroad can make calls to Kenya at relatively lower rates.
The firm says Airtel is demanding Sh20 per minute while Safaricom and Telkom Kenya’s Orange want Sh10 per minute for international voice traffic terminating on their networks instead of Sh0.90 stipulated by regulations.
Justice Odunga Wednesday adjourned the matter to January 27 when he will hear arguments from CA and a lobby –Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA)— which has sought to participate in the suit.
Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom have been enjoined in the suit as interested parties alongside KDA and Attorney General Githu Muigai.
Geonet says it has spent over Sh34 million in obtaining an IGS licence, but does not have infrastructure to carry out its services, hence wants to use the three mobile network operators as hosts.
The CA in September indicated inability to intervene because IGS is not a regulated licence service.
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