A Kenyan Court. Image: kenyanjurist.blogspot.com
Telecoms operator Telkom Kenya is in trouble over what the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) terms “deceptive advertising of its unlimited Internet package”, with the latter threatening to take the telco to court over the matter.
Cofek accuses Telkom of leading customers into believing that they are purchasing unlimited Internet packages only to be cut off after exceeding a certain amount of data.
“We have received several complaints concerning Telkom Kenya’s deceptive marketing that hoodwinks customers, which is contrary to section 46 of the Constitution on consumer rights,” Cofek’s secretary general Stephen Mutoro said. “We have put them on notice and we will be taking the company to court in the next seven days if it does not come clean and tell consumers the truth.”
According to Cofek, an unlimited Internet offer should allow subscribers to access unrestricted amounts of data within a specified amount of time without interruptions or any browsing restrictions.
Cofek has a problem with Telkom not explicitly stating the restrictions that come with the ‘unlimited’ Internet offer, as their advert states: “Enjoy unlimited internet for seven days at Sh999... Unlimited does change with Orange”.
In response to the questions raised by Cofek, Telkom Kenya’s chief executive Mickael Ghossein told Weekend Business: “To maintain acceptable levels of quality for all our customers on such a wireless service, there is need for regulation via a fair usage policy, that applies to both prepaid and postpaid unlimited Internet offers via mobile and modem.
“This therefore means that there are customers who will experience a reduction in speeds should they exceed certain thresholds.”
Cofek was not satisfied with the response, however.
“The response from Telkom Kenya is not acceptable,” said Mutoro. “We are writing to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) to compel them to give full disclosure and if this does not happen, we will take them to court.”
Cofek accuses Telkom of leading customers into believing that they are purchasing unlimited Internet packages only to be cut off after exceeding a certain amount of data.
“We have received several complaints concerning Telkom Kenya’s deceptive marketing that hoodwinks customers, which is contrary to section 46 of the Constitution on consumer rights,” Cofek’s secretary general Stephen Mutoro said. “We have put them on notice and we will be taking the company to court in the next seven days if it does not come clean and tell consumers the truth.”
According to Cofek, an unlimited Internet offer should allow subscribers to access unrestricted amounts of data within a specified amount of time without interruptions or any browsing restrictions.
Cofek has a problem with Telkom not explicitly stating the restrictions that come with the ‘unlimited’ Internet offer, as their advert states: “Enjoy unlimited internet for seven days at Sh999... Unlimited does change with Orange”.
In response to the questions raised by Cofek, Telkom Kenya’s chief executive Mickael Ghossein told Weekend Business: “To maintain acceptable levels of quality for all our customers on such a wireless service, there is need for regulation via a fair usage policy, that applies to both prepaid and postpaid unlimited Internet offers via mobile and modem.
“This therefore means that there are customers who will experience a reduction in speeds should they exceed certain thresholds.”
Cofek was not satisfied with the response, however.
“The response from Telkom Kenya is not acceptable,” said Mutoro. “We are writing to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) to compel them to give full disclosure and if this does not happen, we will take them to court.”
