Kenyan mobile industry heavyweights Safaricom and Orange have confirmed that they will not oppose the decision to cut mobile termination rates (MTRs), saying the cuts may benefit mobile operators.
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) last week announced the decision to cut MTRs according to a pre-set glide path, a move Safaricom and Orange had previously opposed.
But speaking to HumanIPO, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore revealed that Safaricom will not be lobbying the government further in opposition of the MTR cuts, noting that as a regulated entity Safaricom will “comply with the decision made by the CCK”.
Orange has also adopted a more positive attitude despite its earlier opposition to the glide path, with Telkom Kenya CEO Mickael Ghossein telling HumanIPO that cuts allow operators to improve their bottom line service, but the reduction in rates will also facilitate network expansion.
“Operators will be able to save more on payments to their competitors for termination of calls and this might provide resources for further network expansion and improved service provision,” Ghossein said.
Collymore did, however, disclose that the CCK has failed to provide affected parties such as Safaricom with the full detailed determination setting out the decision to reduce rates, hindering telecoms in developing strategies going forward.
“We have not yet received the detailed determination from the CCK spelling out the terms of their decision so it will be premature to come to any conclusions on how it will impact our overall strategy,” he said.
Ghossein commented that industry actors have not yet been afforded the opportunity to come to a consensus on how to rectify charges for the intermittent period between July and now.
“But most likely the operators will exchange credit notes,” Ghossein revealed.
